NO ROOM FOR FAKE GOODS
Thousands of fake goods were hammered, compressed and shredded by Dubai’s Department of Economic Development on Tuesday to send a clear message against fraudulent practices. The number of fake products confiscated was significantly lower last year compared to the volume seized in 2016 but the net value was slightly higher.
dubai — Thousands of fake goods, including counterfeit smartphones, electronic devices, bags and watches were hammered, compressed and shredded by Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (DED) on Tuesday to send a “clear message to protect consumers against fraudulent practices”.
The Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector in the DED said it has made “remarkable gains in its effort to uphold trademarks and protect intellectual property (IP) rights by confiscating around 26.2 million pieces of counterfeit goods in Dubai last year.”
The number of fake products confiscated was significantly lower last year compared to the volume seized in 2016 (67.7m) but the net value was slightly higher — Dh1.19 billion in 2017 as against Dh1.16 billion in 2016 — because majority of the seized products were luxury items, the DED said.
Fake shoes topped the list of counterfeit items confiscated last year with 51,144 pieces worth more than Dh400 million, accounting for 37 per cent of the total value of the goods seized. Tobacco and other illegal smoking devices came second with Dh338.75 million worth of products seized, followed by bags and leather products. Cosmetics and phone accessories came in fourth and fifth places, respectively, for a combined value estimated at Dh101 million.
Fake phones, watches, fragrances, jewellery and glasses landed in sixth to 10th places for a total value of Dh176 million.
In terms of volume, fake cosmetics and telephone accessories occupied the first two spots respectively, followed by packing cases, fragrances and construction materials.
Speaking to Khaleej Times, Mohammed Ali Rashid Lootah, CEO of CCCP, said: “We are sending a clear message against fraudulent practices. The volume of fake products were less last year but the total value was higher because majority were luxury items.
“Moreover, we have shifted our focus from shops to raiding warehouses. We wanted to go up the supply chain because no matter
Consumers are not penalised for buying illegal products because we believe they are just being misled or deceived by illegal traders.”
Mohammed Ali Rashid Lootah, CEO of CCCP
how many shops we raid, they can only yield hundreds of thousands worth of products but if we raid the warehouses, we can confiscate millions, or even tens of millions of illegal goods,” he added.
Commenting on the efforts by the DED, Munir Suboh, partner and head of IP department at BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, said: “The DED continues to develop its services with the latest technology. We are eager to see the enhanced version of Intellectual property electronic gateway. It was insightful learning from officials the number of seized goods and the value of confiscated goods — it was a very transparent initiative. We are certainly keen to work with the DED to control the online trade of counterfeit products, that is available on non-regulated ecommerce websites and social media accounts which are managed or associated with entities that are based in Dubai.”
Lootah said there is no law to blacklist the illegal traders — the base penalty for selling fake goods is just Dh15,000 and doubles up for every repeat offence — but by raiding warehouses and seizing millions of products, that can cripple the illegal businesses.
According to the DED, the illegal products mostly come from countries in the Far East. “Luckily, there are no illegal production in the UAE and illegal products are also curbed in their countries of origin,” Lootah said.
Lootah also explained why the DED destroyed the seized items instead of donating them. He said: “There are certain restrictions in the law — if we donate them, we have to fully hide or destroy the brand logo. We had a memorandum of understanding before with some brands but we faced challenges removing the logo. For example, we had to open fake Rolex watches or remove LV logos from the bags — it was very costly so we just had to destroy the fake goods.”
“Moreover, by destroying them (fake goods), we are sending a clear message that we do not tolerate such illegal practices in the UAE,” Lootah emphasised.
“Consumers, on the other hand, are not penalised for buying illegal products because we believe they are just being misled or deceived by illegal traders. The onus is on the traders but we are educating the consumers. Most of them fall prey to the lure of cheaper prices but counterfeit goods pose a threat to their health,” he added.
“I call on consumers to report such abuses to DED Consumer Protection through the call centre number 600 54 5555, or tour Twitter handle @Dubai_consumers,” Lootah added.