More than eight million toys failing to meet safety requirements, hundreds of thousands of detained counterfeit goods and thousands of inspections carried out at the borders – this is the balance of the actions taken by the National Revenue Administration (KAS), which is responsible for protecting the European Union market against dangerous products.

As one of the EU’s key border countries, Poland plays an important role in inspecting goods entering the common market. Today, KAS responsibilities are not limited solely to collecting customs duties and taxes. Activities related to consumer and environmental protection, as well as ensuring that products comply with European safety standards, are becoming increasingly important.

Dangerous goods detained at the border

Every product imported from outside the European Union must undergo customs clearance and meet a range of formal requirements. KAS officers check, among other things, labeling, technical documentation, declarations of conformity and the required certificates.

Inspections are particularly important for products originating in countries where safety standards may be less stringent than in the EU. This applies, among other things, to toys, electrical devices, cosmetics, car parts and chemical products. Products that fail to meet European requirements may pose a threat to consumers’ health and lives and have a negative impact on the natural environment.

Therefore, one of KAS’s primary tasks is to identify such goods before they are placed on the market. This prevents them from reaching shops or consumers.

Irregularities detected in most inspections

Market surveillance data show the scale of the problem. In 2025, KAS carried out 5,614 inspections related to product safety. Irregularities were found in approximately 80% of cases.

The results concerning toys were particularly worrying. Last year, officers inspected approximately 8.2 million products of this type. Of these, approximately 8.1 million failed to meet the safety requirements applicable on the EU market.

Equally alarming data were recorded the previous year. In 2024, 5,924 inspections were carried out concerning product compliance with safety requirements. In approximately 76% of cases, market surveillance authorities confirmed the concerns reported by customs services.

In total, approximately 34.5 million individual goods and more than 190 million kilograms of products were inspected at that time. Approximately 21.2 million individual goods and 67 million kilograms of products were deemed non-compliant.

The growing problem of counterfeit goods

One of the greatest challenges remains the dynamic growth of e-commerce. More and more products are entering Europe in small consignments shipped by courier companies, air transport or rail.

The growing number of consignments requires customs services to conduct increasingly advanced risk analysis. In addition to dangerous products, officers also identify goods that infringe intellectual property rights.

In 2025, KAS detained more than 352,000 counterfeit toys. By comparison, the figure was more than 145,000 the previous year. This represents an increase of approximately 143%, demonstrating both the scale of the phenomenon and the intensity of the inspection activities.

Counterfeit products often fail to meet quality and safety standards. This applies especially to toys, electrical devices, medicines and car parts, which may pose a real danger to users.

More than 818,000 toys inspected in 2026

Inspections are also being carried out this year. Between March 5 and May 15, 2026, officers inspected more than 818,000 toys.

Due to suspected violations of regulations, 335 requests for opinions were submitted. The vast majority were sent to the Trade Inspection, while some went to the Office of Electronic Communications. The suspicions were confirmed in 287 cases, meaning that irregularities were found in nearly 86% of cases.

The most frequently detected violations concerned the absence of required warnings, missing importer information and incorrect or entirely absent CE marking.

Joint protection of the EU market

The effectiveness of KAS actions is based on close cooperation with market surveillance authorities, other inspection services and intellectual property rights holders. The border control system makes it possible to eliminate dangerous and non-compliant products before they are placed on the market.

The data presented show that protecting the EU market against dangerous goods remains one of the most important challenges facing modern customs services. At the same time, they confirm that effective border surveillance helps limit risks before defective products reach European consumers.