JEDDAH: The First Arab Consumer and Brand Protection Forum that concluded yesterday in Jeddah has reiterated the determination of the Arab countries to fight the scourge of commercial fraud, counterfeit and piracy of intellectual properties and thus protect consumers, patent rights and brands. Saudi Customs and Hemaya Universal organized the three-day forum opened by Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal on Sunday.
The meeting stressed the need for increased international cooperation in the combat of commercial fraud, counterfeiting and violation of intellectual property rights so that the menace could be rooted out at their sources.
The forum also recommended celebrating an Arab Consumer Day on March 1 every year in all Arab countries with intensified awareness campaigns.
The following are the other recommendations: Stringent steps against the crime such as seizing and destroying fake goods without permitting the return or re-export of such goods in the country from where they are seized.
Calling upon the manufacturers of original products to slash down prices and cost of after-sale services as a strategy to combat the fraud and counterfeit so that consumers are not tempted by lower prices of the fake products;
Increasing the role of the private sector in supporting the government agencies that fight the spread of counterfeit products; Intensified training of the personnel of anti-fraud departments to detect articles and sources of commercial fraud; Adopting awareness campaigns and programs to enhance the level of public awareness about the fake products and services; Building a unified database to serve all sectors that participate in developing programs to protect consumer interests and combating fraud and counterfeit; Setting up special laboratories in all Arab countries to discover the fake goods. The cost of laboratory tests should be reasonable so that people or agencies are not discouraged to go to laboratories; Meting out severe punishments to particularly those who are involved in the manufacture or sale of articles that endanger health and safety of consumers such as medicine and food products; Transparency in the exchange of data between the governments and private sectors in matters related to the combat of fraud in its all forms.