Key Facts
Project Budget: €5,723,209.50 (including VAT)
Duration: Until 30.06.2025
Funding: 100% financed by the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)
Purpose
To increase efficiency in combating illicit trade, in line with current challenges, the needs and expectations of citizens and businesses, while enhancing their resilience and digital transition.
Impact
The Interagency Market Control Unit (DIMEA) operates as a unified and robust enforcement mechanism, focusing on combating illicit trade in goods and services. Its scope includes:
- Protecting the internal market.
- Enhancing competitiveness and entrepreneurship.
- Safeguarding consumers from dangerous illegal goods and services circulating within the country.
- Strengthening national security by disrupting illegal trading networks.
- Protecting intellectual property rights.
- Enhancing the value of commercial brands.
- Increasing business growth and public revenue.
The initiative Combating Illicit Trade and Protecting Intellectual Property falls under Pillar 4.2 of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0”, which focuses on modernizing public administration. It also includes measures for skills development and the fight against corruption.
To effectively implement this reform initiative, DIMEA must:
i) be equipped with modern technological tools;
ii) be staffed with sufficient, specialized personnel and appropriate training material to ensure impactful and measurable results;
iii) establish awareness and information dissemination programs for both businesses and consumers, highlighting the importance of intellectual property rights protection; and
iv) intensify inspections by installing checkpoints in various parts of the country to serve as permanent control stations for vehicles entering Greece from neighboring countries.
As such, the project focuses on:
- Developing an integrated, interoperable Information System (IS) for managing market inspections nationwide, targeting the circulation and trade of goods and services in both domestic and international markets, with checkpoints at border entry points and toll stations.
- Procuring high-tech portable equipment for on-site inspections, enabling immediate issuance of fines and integration with the IS database.
- Establishing a modern, secure operations center for market surveillance data collection and processing by upgrading regional infrastructure.
- Educating and informing citizens on intellectual property rights protection.
- Procuring inspection vehicles, prefabricated control units (ISOBOX) at strategic checkpoints across the country, and scanners for the inspection of commercial cargo.
Growthfund’s Project Preparation Facility (PPF) has undertaken the project’s preparation and coordination through the Horizontal Technical Assistance it provides to the Ministry of Development, as well as the tendering process and contract execution monitoring.
The project has a total budget of €5,723,209.50 (including VAT).
It is implemented under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” with funding from the European Union – NextGenerationEU.
Project Progress
The project consists of nine (9) contracts with a total value of €5,723,209.50 (including VAT), of which seven (7) contracts have already been signed, amounting to €4,697,896.09 (including VAT).
The following have been completed:
- The development of the Information System for managing market inspections to combat illicit trade.
- The procurement of twelve (12) plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles and six (6) charging stations for DIMEA.
- The purchase and installation of ten (10) prefabricated control units (ISOBOX).
Pending completion:
- The establishment of a modern, high-security operations center for market surveillance data collection and processing within DIMEA.
- The implementation of public awareness and education programs on intellectual property rights protection.
Contracts for the final two tenders—relating to procurement needs for the operations center—are expected to be signed imminently.
