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August 9, 2026

Newsletter

The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • Strategic Insight

LATEST
New EU Gas Market Rules Take Effect With Consumer SafeguardsDeforestation Regulation Holds Its December Deadline Despite CutsDigital Omnibus Delays Europe’s High-Risk AI Deadline to 2027Europe’s Schools Confront a Widening Basic Skills GapRule of Law Report Finds Progress but Trust Still LagsIRIS2 Gains 66 Satellites as Brussels Signs the Rollout DealNature Restoration Plans Come Due as Member States Race a DeadlineECB Rates Hold at 2.25 Percent as Frankfurt Waits on the DataEU Budget Talks Turn to Cohesion as Ireland Takes OverWildfire Response Stretches Europe’s Emergency Fleet ThinCan Europe’s Quantum Plan Match Its Big Ambitions?Armenia Edges West as Moscow’s Grip Slips AwayEurope Inherits the World’s Aid Bill It Cannot Fully PayAir Passenger Rights Get Their First Overhaul in Two DecadesErasmus Opens a 5 Billion Euro Round for Skills and MobilityCeuta Crisis Pushes the EU Toward Faster Migrant ReturnsBulky Parcels Face a Packaging Crackdown From August 12Can Europe Build Its Drone Wall Before 2030 Arrives?Indonesia’s Trade Deal With Europe Nears Its Final SignatureEurope Leans on Beijing to Keep Climate Talks Alive Before AntalyaNew EU Gas Market Rules Take Effect With Consumer SafeguardsDeforestation Regulation Holds Its December Deadline Despite CutsDigital Omnibus Delays Europe’s High-Risk AI Deadline to 2027Europe’s Schools Confront a Widening Basic Skills GapRule of Law Report Finds Progress but Trust Still LagsIRIS2 Gains 66 Satellites as Brussels Signs the Rollout DealNature Restoration Plans Come Due as Member States Race a DeadlineECB Rates Hold at 2.25 Percent as Frankfurt Waits on the DataEU Budget Talks Turn to Cohesion as Ireland Takes OverWildfire Response Stretches Europe’s Emergency Fleet ThinCan Europe’s Quantum Plan Match Its Big Ambitions?Armenia Edges West as Moscow’s Grip Slips AwayEurope Inherits the World’s Aid Bill It Cannot Fully PayAir Passenger Rights Get Their First Overhaul in Two DecadesErasmus Opens a 5 Billion Euro Round for Skills and MobilityCeuta Crisis Pushes the EU Toward Faster Migrant ReturnsBulky Parcels Face a Packaging Crackdown From August 12Can Europe Build Its Drone Wall Before 2030 Arrives?Indonesia’s Trade Deal With Europe Nears Its Final SignatureEurope Leans on Beijing to Keep Climate Talks Alive Before Antalya

OLAF Tightens Its Grip on Counterfeit Supply Chains

Khabib Nurmagomedov
Senior Reporter, Anti-Fraud (OLAF)

Alicante: The European Anti-Fraud Office joined forces with the EU Intellectual Property Office in early July 2026 to press customs authorities, international bodies and industry into a tougher common front against counterfeit goods flooding Europe’s transport, critical infrastructure and communications networks. The meeting underscored how OLAF is widening its focus from budget fraud to the fake products that threaten safety and drain legitimate manufacturers.

The latest push

At the gathering, OLAF and the EU Intellectual Property Office brought together customs officials and experts to share intelligence on how counterfeit parts infiltrate supply chains for vehicles, energy systems and telecoms equipment. The two agencies argued that fakes in these sectors pose a physical danger, not merely a commercial nuisance, because a substandard component can fail in a lorry, a power grid or a network switch.

The event followed a string of operations in which OLAF-coordinated action against counterfeit goods produced concrete seizures. In June 2026, an OLAF-supported operation helped Portuguese authorities break a trade in fake truck parts.

  • 14,629 counterfeit items seized in Portugal in June 2026.
  • Fake truck parts valued at more than €600,000.
  • Goods purported to come from major brands but were made illegally in Türkiye.

Why it matters

Counterfeit vehicle components carry a direct road-safety risk, which is why brand owners and national inspectors were pulled into the Portuguese case alongside OLAF. The office provided analysis and coordination across several member states, illustrating the cross-border model it is trying to scale up through the new cooperation with the intellectual property office. Details of the July initiative appear in OLAF’s statement on protecting critical sectors.

Official statements

“OLAF remains the key guardian of the EU budget and of European consumers, and tackling counterfeit goods in critical sectors is central to protecting both safety and the single market,” the European Anti-Fraud Office said in setting out its work against illicit trade.

Officials stressed that seizures alone are not enough and that lasting results depend on sharing data between customs services, brand owners and law enforcement so that counterfeiters cannot simply reroute shipments through weaker entry points.

Background

OLAF investigates fraud against the EU budget, corruption and serious misconduct within EU institutions, but it has increasingly turned to illicit trade because counterfeiting robs public coffers of customs duties and taxes while undercutting compliant firms. In its 2025 annual report, published in April 2026, the office recommended the recovery of almost €600 million and said it had helped protect around €6.8 billion over the past decade. Its wider mandate is described on the European Anti-Fraud Office website.

With counterfeit goods growing more sophisticated, OLAF’s deepening alliance with the intellectual property office signals an attempt to move from one-off raids toward a standing, intelligence-led defence of Europe’s supply chains.

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