Survey finds one in three Romanians would buy smuggled products

One in three Romanians declares that they would buy smuggled products, found an IRES survey commissioned by the anti-illicit trade association ACTIV on the occasion of the National Day of Fight against Illicit Trade in Goods, which is observed every year on April 21. According to the survey, smuggled and counterfeit products are sold especially in the markets, with over 60 percent of the polled Romanians reporting having noticed such illegal transactions, but also online - with 38 percent of the respondents mentioning such outlets. "The efforts of the ACTIV Association are focused on informing and raising awareness among the general public on the dangers they face if they buy and use counterfeit and smuggled products. Although 44 percent of the Romanians consider that the consumer's safety regarding product origin and quality has decreased in the past three years, the temptation to buy illegal products remains concerningly high. We will remain ACTIVe, by continuing the educational efforts carried out through the campaign 'Be You! Be Original! and by stepping up cooperation with the Romanian Border Police, the Romanian Police, the Customs General Directorate, the Romanian Gendarmerie and with other representatives of the central and local administration," said ACTIV general manager Daniel Maracineanu. The National Day of Fight against Illicit Trade in Goods was created under Law No. 100 of May 8, 2019 - a legislative proposal signed by a group of MPs from several political parties united in the fight against this negative phenomenon, at the proposal of the ACTIV Association. "I am proud to be able to list among the accomplishments of my term in office the establishment of this national day of fight against illicit trading in goods, because the protection of the consumers and of the financial interests of the Romanian state is among my priorities as a senator," said Social Democratic Senator Viorel Arcas, president of the Senate's Committee on Budget, Finance, Banking and Capital Market. The survey commissioned by the ACTIV Association found that cigarettes are the most-commonly smuggled product in Romania (38 percent), and that as far as counterfeit products are concerned, clothing and footwear are predominant in such activities, with 34 percent of the mentions. Food products, cosmetics and hygiene items, electronics, alcoholic products, auto parts and medicines complete the list of the products most frequently illegally marketed in Romania. "My professional experience has often brought me in contact with the reality generated by the illicit trade in goods. Smuggling and counterfeiting mean theft from the people's pocket and from the state budget, products of questionable quality and organized crime networks. Our responsibility, as politicians, is to take firm action against these phenomena in order to protect the population and Romania's financial interests," said deputy Lucian-Ovidiu Heius, coordinator of the National Liberal Party's Budget and Fiscal policies Committee. Illicit trading in goods creates unequal competition between the fair players who pay taxes and wages and organized crime networks that thrive at the expense of the Romanian state, which loses over two billion euros annually as a result of counterfeiting and smuggling. "The illegal trade in goods has a major impact on the Romanian society, generating a chain of negative effects. It is the duty of each of us to get involved in stopping it and say 'No' to smuggled and counterfeited products!," adds Daniel Maracineanu. The "Viitorul" Association for the Combat of Illicit Trade - ACTIV aims to promote, support, carry out and coordinate activities that contribute to raising the awareness of the public and of the authorities of the negative effects of illicit trading in goods. ACTIV promotes integrity, responsibility, respect and cooperation as its core values. AGERPRES (RO - author: George Banciulea, editor: Mariana Nica; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)