RIYADH: Saudi Customs Authority has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with International Trademark World Company (ITMW), a major Saudi-based organization engaged in the fight against commercial fraud, counterfeiting and trademarks protection across Saudi Arabia.
The MoU aims to increase cooperation between public and non-government sectors in the campaign against commercial fraud and counterfeiting. Ibrahim bin Suliman Al-Mousa, director general of administrative development department, Saudi Customs Authority, and Abdullah bin Mohammed Al-Arifi, CEO of ITMW, signed the deal.
“This MoU has been signed under the direction of Saleh bin Minaih Al-Khiliwy, director general of Saudi Customs, as he personally believes in the importance of cooperation and integration of roles between the public and private sectors. “It is our strong desire to share and take advantage of diverse areas of expertise and skill sets various organizations have built. This will be critical in our pursuit of our common goals of protecting our country against negative impacts of counterfeiting. This is important to protect ourselves from all kinds of adverse effects including on economic, health and financial sectors,” Al-Mousa said. “We have chosen ITMC as a partner primarily for its experience in the fight against fraud, and also because it represents a number of brands affected by this phenomenon, and therefore shares our concerns,” he added.
This MOU envisages provision of technical consultancy by ITMW to Saudi Customs in the field of commercial fraud and counterfeiting, including providing early information on spurious goods as well as training and expertise on identifying fakes from originals, across various product categories.