Tourists could be fined $11k for buying from beach vendors in Italy

Italy is looking to crack down on a summer staple of visiting the beaches there - vendors selling fake goods.

Tourists could now be fined €7000 ($A11,002) for buying counterfeit products under proposed plans from Matteo Salvini, the country's new hardline interior minister.

Beaches in the European hotspot are regularly patrolled by vendors, who largely come from West Africa and Bangladesh. They sell a whole range of cheap and cheerful "designer" goods.

Everything from sunglasses to football shirts, leather bags and caps are often on sale.

But now Salvini says he wants to create "safe beaches" preventing their trade.

"We need to stop the invasion (of vendors) on the beaches, and also stop the sale of counterfeit goods," Salvini is reported as saying in the Daily Telegraph.

Vendors face fines of between €2,500 and €15,500, as well as the confiscation of their goods.

The Telegraph reports that Italy loses €22 billion a year due to counterfeit goods.

Stuff.co.nz