European Commission

Press release

Brussels, 23 July 2013

EU and China step up cooperation in fighting counterfeiting in trade in alcoholic beverages

The European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Cioloș and the Minister of the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, Mr Zhi Shuping, signed today in Beijing a letter of intent regarding fighting counterfeiting in trade in alcoholic beverages. The document states that both parties acknowledge the growing importance of bilateral trade in alcoholic beverages, realise the importance of origin identification and see the need to cooperate closely in combating counterfeiting in this sector.

"This is one step forward in increasing the efficiency of the EU-China cooperation in the fight against counterfeiting in the wines and spirits sector, with positive effects on the economic and trade aspects, but also regarding public health and food safety. It will bring benefits not only for producers, but also for Chinese consumers who will continue to enjoy safe, diverse and quality products ", stated Commissioner Cioloș after the signature of the document.

The document foresees that both parties are determined to enhance their dialogue as part of the EU-China Comprehensive Strategic partnership, and

• to share relevant information on trade of these counterfeit products, enabling them to take effective action within their remit to prevent and combat it;

• to identify counterfeiting malpractices including counterfeiting of certificates of origin, marks of origin or other similar accompanying documents on the territories of the EU and China;

• to identify the most appropriate actions to remedy these malpractices, including exploring possibilities such as establishing appropriate systems for control and traceability, organisation of training and seminars on subjects such as control and traceability, detection methods authentication through laboratory analysis.

The current working group on alcoholic beverages that will oversee and steer the cooperation mechanisms has been able to identify existing EU-China funding programmes in order to finance the necessary actions and training initiatives.