On 7 and 8 October 2025, OLAF and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) brought together over 100 participants from 57 countries to discuss current trends and best practices in the fight against counterfeits and violations of intellectual property in the e-commerce sector. The event took place at the EUIPO premises in Alicante, Spain and dealt with the following issues:

• Presentation of the recently released statistics on the EU enforcement of intellectual property rights in a new format, replacing the former annual report on the matter;
• Investigation techniques and operational cooperation with regard to counterfeit goods sold online;
• Explanation of the operation of traditional websites and e-commerce platforms, their various business models and logistic flows;
• Methods used by counterfeiters to misuse online sales channels and strategies how to tackle them;
• Compliance processes related to the prevention of online sale of counterfeited products on the part of online platforms and payment providers.

The conference included representatives from major e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Alibaba, Mercado Libre, Temu and Shopee, as well as from payment provider PayPal and from the World Customs Organization (WCO). OLAF acting Director-General Salla Saastamoinen stressed the endangerment of counterfeit e-commerce goods for health and safety. She also pointed out that the conference was designed to go beyond mere knowledge sharing, but to lay the ground for enhanced global joint efforts against online counterfeiting, ensuring that the digital marketplace becomes safer and fairer for citizens.

Another joint activity between the EUIPO and OLAF took place from 1 to 2 July 2025 at the EUIPO premises in Alicante: Over 50 participants, including representatives from customs, police and market surveillance authorities, EU and international bodies as well as stakeholders from the industry discussed current and emerging trends in intellectual property crime related to Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). FMCG are everyday products that are in high demand, have a short shelf life, and are sold at a relatively low cost, e.g., home and personal care items, snacks and soft drinks, etc. Due to their economic scale, FMCG are a lucrative target for fraudsters. OLAF Director-General Ville Itälä stressed that cooperation across borders and sectors to tackle crimes related to FMCG is essential to stop counterfeit goods at the source and protect European consumers, industry and markets.