JEDDAH, 1 October 2007 — With the passing of more than half of the holy month of Ramadan and the traditional shopping season in full swing, owners of shops selling genuine brands such as perfumes, designer merchandise and wristwatches are upset at the widespread sale of counterfeit products only meters from their doors.
“Selling such imitation merchandise hurts our credibility and causes us substantial losses,” said Salem Habib Bin-Mahfouz, who owns a shop selling genuine watches in Riyadh. According to Bin-Mahfouz, counterfeiters manufacture, among many others, popular watch brands such as Rado, Breitling, Tag Heuer and Rolex.
“I don’t know why the Ministry of Commerce is letting these street vendors sell these watches, which carry genuine names but are of poor quality,” Bin-Mahfouz said.
Outside the Al-Mahmal Mall in Jeddah’s downtown Balad area, street traders sell imitation perfumes, wristwatches and other trinkets.
One elderly woman, who was selling goods while seated in a wheelchair, said she finds it difficult to sell because of her disability. The woman claimed that she sells goods laid out on the floor to supplement her income as her husband has been out of work for sometime. Arab News moved away and returned a short while later to take a photograph of the woman. She was now out of her wheelchair on her feet bending over her goods to show a prospective buyer a particular watch.
Faisal Ali Al-Kuthairy, a Saudi consumer, said, “I was conned by a street seller. He took advantage of me by selling me an imitation watch. He said it was a genuine one and cost only SR500. I found out it was fake when I returned home and had a proper look at it. I then rushed back to the place where I had bought it but the guy had disappeared.”
Abdullah Ahmad Al-Bastouni, another Saudi consumer, believes that people tend to buy imitation goods because they look genuine. He added that these goods give buyers a fake feeling of wearing genuine brands because they don’t expect people to confront them about the actual price being paid.
Al-Kuthairy added that he feels counterfeit goods flood the market due to a lack of supervision by municipality officials, who know and see traders selling fake goods in front of genuine brand stores but do nothing to stop the problem.
In July, the Arab League and Hemaya Universal, a Jeddah-based firm specializing in fighting counterfeiting and piracy of branded products, signed an agreement to encounter the problem at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Muhammad Abu Azab, Hemaya Universal’s business development director, commented that according to research conducted over a one-year period, counterfeiting and piracy annually costs the Arab region around SR187.5 billion ($50 billion).
As a result of the agreement, the first Arab Consumer and Brand Protection Forum will be held in Saudi Arabia in May 2008. This forum will then be held on an annual basis alternating among GCC states. “We intend to establish this forum that will include the private sector, brand owners, customs and intellectual property organizations to counter-attack the dilemma of counterfeiting and piracy,” Abu Azab said.
In turn a number of GCC officials have applauded the moves saying that involving the entire region in the forum is the best course of action. According to statistics compiled by the intellectual property rights department and intervention department at Dubai Customs, counterfeiting cosmetics and toiletries has leaped into a SR787.5 million ($210 million) business in the Gulf. Fake car parts are another big business raking in between SR562.5 million ($150 million) and SR750 million ($200 million) in 2006. The Saudi economy is also feeling the effect of counterfeiting and piracy to the tune of SR15 billion ($4 billion) annually.
Muhammad Al-Madani, executive manager of the Al-Maddahia Group — owners and developers of some of the most popular malls in Jeddah including Le Mall, Le Dome and Etoile’Center — said the group has hired security guards to ensure fake goods are not sold at its mall.
“It is noted everywhere in Saudi Arabia and the GCC states now a days that there is a kind of invasion going on by street traders moving in on name brand stores by selling counterfeit or fake merchandise. However, we at Al-Maddahia Group have hired a private security company to protect our malls from this kind of activity and in case our security officers observe such an intrusion they immediately take action in removing the person or persons off the premises,” he said.
Al-Madani added that the Al-Maddahia Group also takes extra initiatives to make sure all brand name products are not copies. “I myself randomly visit each store to check the merchandise being sold. I even write to the store management to inquire about the sales and origin of the goods being sold,” he said.
When asked what could be done to further promote anti-counterfeiting and piracy awareness, Al-Madani said, “I am of the view that the Saudi Customs Department should take stern actions to avoid this prime example of trade fraud. The existing government agencies are doing their job well but as the saying goes prevention is better than cure.”
