Gangsters are flooding Britain with fake goods in black market worth £9.3billion after government cuts see major fall in number of border guards

  • Influx of counterfeit goods largely driven by Chinese counterfeits selling online
  • The bogus market is worth around four per cent of imports according to OECD
  • Number of articles seized at UK borders has more than halved from 4.6 million

Cuts to the number of officials patrolling the borders is allowing organised gangs to smuggle fake goods into Britain unchecked.

As well as contributing to huge queues at passport control this Summer, budget cuts at Border Force have been blamed for a dramatic fall in the number of fake items seized at the border.

The influx of counterfeit goods has been largely driven by Chinese counterfeiters which are selling their wares through online market places such as Amazon, eBay and Ali Baba as well as on the High Street.

Cuts to the number of officials patrolling the borders is allowing organised gangs to smuggle fake goods into Britain in black market worth £9.3billion (file photo)

Cuts to the number of officials patrolling the borders is allowing organised gangs to smuggle fake goods into Britain in black market worth £9.3billion (file photo)

The bogus market is worth as much as £9.3 billion every year - or around 4 per cent of imports - according to the most recent estimates from the OECD thinktank.

But the number of articles seized at UK borders has more than halved from 4.6 million to two million in 2016 – according to separate figures published by the European Commission.

The number of shipments - or 'cases' - of counterfeit items discovered at the UK's ports and airports has plunged by 83 per cent from 12,123 in 2015 to 2094 in 2016.

This is less than Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands and Romania.

The drop has coincided with budget cuts at Border Force, meaning fewer shipments coming into the UK's ports and airports are being checked.

 The number of full time Border Force officers fell by 662 – or almost ten per cent in two years – from 8332 in 2014/15 to 7602 in 2016/17.

The Border Force's budget was cut by another 2.3 per cent last year although the number of permanent staff rose to 7674 according to the Home Office's latest annual report and accounts.

Phil Lewis, a former government adviser who has fought against piracy for almost two decades, said cuts to Border Force means they have been 'pushed to the absolute limit'.

Speaking to the Mail in his new role as boss of the Anti-Counterfeiting Group, he warned Britain's 'whole enforcement structure is creaking'.

Border officials are increasingly being forced to prioritise issues such as immigration, leaving them less time to help combat the £362billion global trade in fake goods.

The influx of counterfeit goods has been largely driven by Chinese counterfeiters which are selling their wares through online market places (file photo)

The influx of counterfeit goods has been largely driven by Chinese counterfeiters which are selling their wares through online market places (file photo)

The number of articles seized at UK borders has more than halved from 4.6 million to two million in 2016 (file photo)

The number of articles seized at UK borders has more than halved from 4.6 million to two million in 2016 (file photo)

This has made it increasingly easy for criminals to smuggle fake goods across the border.

A fall in the number of local trading standards officers also means that once fake goods have been smuggled across the border they are less likely to be seized when they turn up in local markets, according to Mr Lewis.

The illegal trade is robbing the UK exchequer of an estimated £3.8billion in unpaid tax and costing struggling retailers and businesses billions of pounds in lost sales.

Mr Lewis said: 'The current plight of Border Force is ominously portrayed in the fight against the global trade of counterfeit and pirated goods.

'Our businesses, economy and consumers are under ruthless attack from international criminals involved a dark trade that gets more damaging and menacing by the day. 

'But our whole enforcement structure is creaking. It is dreadfully over-stretched and has been pushed to the limit.

'Unless this is taken seriously I wonder whether we will ever be anywhere near 'taking back control of our borders'.'

In a damning report published by the commons Home Affairs committee in February, MPs said they are 'increasingly alarmed about the impact that inadequate resources are having on the capacity for Border Force to operate effectively.'

It added that the reduction in officers has meant members of staff being diverted regularly from customs operations to the priority service of immigration control'.

Organisations including Interpol and the World Customs Organisation have warned huge profits from fake goods – which range from anything from jewellery to luxury handbags and pharmaceuticals – are being channelled into the trafficking of drugs and human beings as well as related crimes such as money laundering.

Mr Lewis said the cuts at trading standards run by local authorities have made it easier counterfeit goods to be sold in markets and shops.

The funding has almost halved in seven years from £213million in 2009 to just £124 million in 2016.

Labour MP John Mann, who sits on the commons Treasury committee said: 'We have to keep our borders secure and that means counterfeit goods as well as people. 

'Otherwise to people will put themselves at risk by using dangerous projects and genuine manufacturers will lose out.'

Almost three quarters of fake goods arrive by sea.

But increasingly smaller consignments are being delivered by air as people and businesses use the internet to buy and sell fake goods from their homes and offices.

The most commonly counterfeited goods are tobacco, clothing, alcohol, footwear and cosmetics.

Safety concerns have been raised about many of these products, including hair straighteners and other electric goods as well as pharmaceuticals.

The trade in fake goods has damaged the high street, with a report by the OECD estimating it have cost legitimate firms £8.6billion in lost sales in 2013.

Mr Lewis has been one of the key figures in the fight against piracy since 2001 when he became the UK's senior policy adviser on intellectual property under the Blair government. 

As part of that he was in charge of developing the UK's first strategy to tackle this crime. He has also been an adviser to the European Commission and Interpol

The Anti-Counterfeiting Group represents more than 3,000 international manufacturers, retailers and businesses.

Some of the group's members have complained of an increase in counterfeit goods being sold – particularly online.

They include American footwear company Deckers which makes UGG boots.

Alistair Campbell, who is in charge of leading to fight against counterfeit goods in Europe, said: 'The depletion of UK customs and Trading Standards officers has resulted in a huge rise of shoddy fake goods, hitting our high streets, which undercut legitimate retailers, ultimately leading to the closure of shops and lost jobs in the locality.'