Risk to the Safety and Health of People

When purchasing counterfeit goods, a consumer buys a product of questionable and unverified quality, and the most important thing to bear in mind is that in certain cases it can be a matter of a product potentially hazardous to a consumer’s health or safety.

Today, counterfeits increasingly account for consumer goods presenting an especially great risk to the consumers’ health and safety, such as food and beverages, personal hygiene products, medicines and medicine products, but also vehicle spare parts and electronic products (cell phones, batteries and the like).

The sale of counterfeit medicines, medicine products, food supplements and personal hygiene products on the internet presents a special problem.

Counterfeit pesticides being sold on the black market also present a serious threat to the health of both farmers who handle them and of consumers who will consume treated agricultural products, posing a threat to the environment, crops and natural watercourses as well.