Summary

Recently, Estonia has earned the reputation of a paradise of piracy. The article analyses regulation of the fight against piracy and prevention of imports and exports of counterfeit goods by the currently effective Customs Act. Under the Estonian Customs Act, an import or export of counterfeit and pirated goods does not constitute a violation of the law. In the case of such goods, the customs shall not act ex officio but can only take action if a court requests the customs in writing to prevent the import or export of the goods. A court may be requested to do so by a holder of intellectual property rights who, however, usually lacks information on the import or export of such goods. If Estonia becomes a member of the World Trade Organisation, Estonia must take into consideration the TRIPs agreement under which customs may act on its own initiative. The same is also permitted by the EU Directive 3295/94.
In addition, Estonian law should regulate what should be done to counterfeit goods and whether a prohibition to import or export counterfeit and pirated goods should also be applied to de minimis goods. The law does not regulate whether the filing of an application for prevention of an import or export should be accompanied by presentation to the customs of a guarantee to compensate for damage caused by unjustified delay in the customs clearance.