Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of greater cross-agency action between the Intellectual Property Office, Trading Standards and Border Force on tackling counterfeiting.

The Government is reducing the sale of counterfeit goods by supporting Police, Trading Standards and Border Force to take targeted enforcement action, disrupt online sales, seize counterfeit goods and use Proceeds of Crime Act powers to recover criminal profits.

Between 2021 and 2023, Border Force seized counterfeit articles with an estimated retail value exceeding half a billion pounds. The volume of suspected counterfeit articles seized varied over this period, falling from more than 3 million articles in 2021 to just over 1 million in 2023. Of these seizures, 95% were confirmed as counterfeit in 2021 and 89% in 2023. The estimated retail value of destroyed counterfeit goods increased from £142 million in 2021 to over £200 million in 2023, indicating a trend towards lower volumes of higher-value items.