JEDDAH, 15 March 2005 — Frustrated with an expanding gray market and constant flow of counterfeit products that severely harm their business, manufacturers and authorized dealers in the Kingdom are on the warpath on the fake front, joining hands with government departments to ferret out fake stocks. With the issue now becoming much alive in the public eye, Saudi traders are making their battle against counterfeits known. The corporate victims of this racket are now taking action themselves.
One firm that has been hit by counterfeit trade is Mahmood Saleh Abbar Co. sole agent and distributor of Casio products in Saudi Arabia.
Company officials announced a major drive to counter the spread of fake Casio products in the Saudi market.
“We continue to receive damaged products, especially electronic calculators, bought from shops selling fake Casio machines with buyers putting the blame on our company. These are imitated goods and we have nothing to do with them. The buyer alone bears full responsibility if they failed to check whether these are genuine or fake,” said Muhammad Ali Basurrah, manager, Casio division at Abbar Company.
The pirates engage in trademark infringement seeking to pass off goods with similar packaging and the same brand name as the genuine article.
In some cases it is so blatant one could not easily recognize the illicit from the original. But when it comes to imitating the inside contents like Casio calculator board the buyer can easily discover the difference.
Basurrah has confirmed that Abbar Co. is engaged in a major campaign outlining the company strategy to counter the spread of fake products.
“The gray market has spread rapidly. The menace has reached a critical proportion with the market now flooded with fake electronic calculators widely used by people, especially schools and businesses” he added.
He warned that imitated products start giving wrong readings shortly after being operated, something that could have serious consequences, especially for students doing home work or taking exams.
Talal Al-Garni, Abbar Co. representative in Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry anti-commercial fraud committee, said they would join hands with other businesses in the campaign to counter fake products and would also seek the help of the media to alert the public on the problem, direct messages warning people trading in counterfeit products and asking the authorities to publish the names of traders caught dealing in fake goods.
According to Ministry of Commerce officials almost 40 percent of all consumer goods in the local market are counterfeit and carry fake trademarks. The private sector is reported to have sustained losses amounting to SR5 billion last years as a result of the practice.
It is believed that more than 15 percent of traders in Jeddah alone are known to engage in commercial fraud, including imitation of trademarks and dealing in counterfeit products.
Businesses and legal experts have been calling for more draconian laws to deal with the counterfeit plague.
Trademarks, patents and copyrights laws are a prerequisite for accession to the World Trade Organization. The Kingdom is currently engaged in negotiations to join the WTO.
The Saudi Customs, the ministries of trade, culture and information as well as municipalities are active against the spread of fake products.
Under a new law prepared by the Shoura Council violators, including producers, importers and distributors, would face fines of up to SR1 million and be jailed for three years.
Large quantities of electronics, food material and other consumer goods are discovered from time to time and destroyed. A few months ago a consignment of about 1.7 million fake watches intended for sale in the Kingdom at a value of over SR1 billion was caught.
The shipment was smuggled from Dubai for the benefit of 32 local traders.
Basurrah acknowledged the solution might not be easy given the tactics adopted by the pirates and the widespread practice saying if they managed to overcome 50 or 60 percent of the problem this would be considered an achievement in itself.
“The problem is that the number of violations caught and documented over a period of two years is very small compared to magnitude of the phenomenon. We hope the new anti-piracy law would help protect local businesses.”
