Counterfeit goods worth $257m seized in UAE-China operation Time to start planning your time off for 2020
More than 28,000 counterfeit goods valued at a total of $257 million (Dh944m) have been seized in a joint operation by police in China and the UAE.
Officers in Dubai raided 10 locations in the emirate while authorities in China arrested 37 suspects.
Among the items confiscated were more than 7,000 counterfeit handbags purporting to be genuine Louis Vuitton and Chanel brands.
Xinhua, China’s state news agency, said the fakes were imported into the Emirates using falsified customs documents.
Some of the counterfeit items were also hidden among shipments of genuine products.
Over the summer, China launched a nationwide operation against counterfeiters – arresting 6,100 people to date.
In July, the Department of Economic Development in Dubai announced its own crackdown with the introduction of new technology to identify luxury counterfeit goods.
Mohammed Ali Rashid Lootah, chief executive of Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection at the Department of Economic Development, said the AI initiative would enable customs officers to identify fake products more quickly.
According to Chinese police, the items seized in the recent joint operation were made at a factory in China’s Guangdong Province. The goods were confiscated in the UAE as well as prior to their export from China.
Now the last public holiday of 2019 is over, you may be wondering, when is my next day off?
The good news is you only have to wait four weeks, because as usual, 2020 will begin with a day off on January 1 to celebrate the start of the new year.
However, after that it will be a little longer, with four, or potentially even five days off, in May to mark Eid Al Fitr, depending on how long the lunar month of Ramadan is. If Ramadan is 30 days long, which some expect it will be, the holiday will be five days, from about Saturday, May 23, to Wednesday, May 27 – giving everyone a six-day weekend. However, if the month is only 29 days long, the holiday could end on Tuesday, May 26.
Arafat Day, which is expected to fall on July 30, a Thursday, will be the next public holiday, followed by a three-day break for Eid Al Adha, which is estimated to begin on July 31 and last until Sunday, August 2.
After that, Emiratis and residents can expect a long weekend with Sunday, August 23, likely to be a public holiday to celebrate the Islamic New Year. That will be followed by a day off on Thursday, October 29, to mark the Prophet’s Birthday.
Finally, there will be a threeday break, starting with a public holiday to mark Commemoration Day on Tuesday, December 1, followed by another two days off from December 2 and 3 to celebrate National Day.
This year, the UAE Cabinet issued a decree unifying the number of holiday days between the public and private sector.
Previously, people employed in the public sector had more days off than those working for private companies.
The move is part of concerted efforts to encourage Emiratis to build their careers in the private sector.