Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The suffering continues because of the "forged" counterfeit goods and the heavy losses they cause, whether in terms of citizens' health or the large economic loss in terms of money. According to what was reported by the Belgian news agency, in the year 2022, customs closed four illegal cigarette factories in Belgium, but the smugglers are still They find a way to produce and distribute.
  Elsewhere in Europe, a total of 75 illegal cigarette factories were eliminated with the highest numbers being in Poland (32) and Spain (nine) and Belgium tied with the Netherlands for third place with four factories each. These seizures led to the seizure of about 350 million cigarettes.

According to the same sources, the Belgian customs are working on an initiative called Neen Tegen Nemaak (No to counterfeiting and piracy) in the hope of cracking down on the production, sale and purchase of illegal paraphernalia.
Belgium has become a bigger player in the counterfeit product game, and an increasing amount of illegal tobacco products are being brought into the country from Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

According to media sources, the Belgian news agency added that these smuggling practices led to an annual loss of 10 billion euros for the European Union and between seven and ten percent of the global economy (450 billion euros).
Two years ago, a study published by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) said that the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the spread of counterfeiting and piracy in the European Union, with e-commerce booming as a result of this crisis.

The study found that 8% of Belgians were misled into buying counterfeit products, while nearly 1 in 10 Europeans reported being duped into buying what turned out to be a fake product.

The office noted that one area of concern when it comes to piracy, particularly during a pandemic, is intellectual property.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put the problem of intellectual property crimes under a magnifying glass, with the emergence of counterfeit medicines and medical products that further threaten the health and safety of citizens.
In addition to health and safety risks, counterfeits often lead to other negative consequences, such as security breaches and financial losses.

The study said that the value of counterfeit or pirated medicines totals 4 billion euros worldwide.

The countries with the highest percentage of cheated consumers are Bulgaria (19%), Romania (16%), and Hungary (15%), while Sweden (2%) and Denmark (3%) rank at the bottom.

Belgium is just below the European average at 8%.

A study published earlier in 2021 that looked at counterfeiting in shipping containers ranked Belgium as one of the ten largest ports of entry for counterfeit goods in the European Union.

To raise awareness of the value of intellectual property rights, the European Union Intellectual Property Office, in cooperation with the European Commission and the intellectual property offices of member states, launched the Ideas Powered for Business programme, which includes a €20 million fund to support small and medium-sized businesses.

The initiative will support intellectual property evaluation services in addition to 50% of the cost of applying for trademark and design rights at the national, regional or European Union level, and will also help small and medium enterprises to develop their intellectual property strategies.