“Today we have signed two agreements with major brand labels operating in the Kingdom which offer market research and brand protection for their trademark from counterfeiting,” Tafeek bin Hamouda, deputy manager for International Hemaya Universal, an anti-counterfeiting service provider in Jeddah told Arab News.
Hamouda also said that they first began in 2006 by signing an agreement with the Saudi Customs in helping to combat counterfeiting as well as holding the first Arab Consumer Protection Forum in 2008, also in cooperation with Saudi Customs.
Hamouda stressed that consumers should also know their rights and help consumer protection authorities by not purchasing fake brands and should be active in reporting merchants involved in trading in counterfeit merchandise.
“A major problem in the Kingdom concerning fake brands is that many consumers know the brands are not original but because they look like they are good quality and up to 30-50 percent cheaper than the original, the consumers decide to purchase the items anyway,” Hamouda said, adding that this compounds the problem, making fighting counterfeiting more difficult.
Hamouda also said that, like any social campaign, stamping out counterfeiting needs more awareness. “We want to explain that buying fake brands is irresponsible and causes companies and government agencies millions of riyals each year needlessly,” he said.
According to the latest statistics (December 2009) from the World Trade Organization (WTO), Saudi Arabia and the GCC suffered losses of SR67.5 billion last year due to counterfeit trading compared to SR330 billion across the Arab world for the same period and SR8.2 trillion worldwide.
Also observing Gulf Consumer Protection Day in Riyadh, the Consumer Protection Association (CPA) organized an open lecture which was held at the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO) building on Sunday.
Beginning the meeting, President of the CPA, Dr. Mohammed Al-Hamad and other officials agreed that Gulf Consumer Protection Day would be observed every year on March 1st.
In addition and as part of the lecture, Al-Hamad explained the basic principles of the organization and its role in society as well as gave an explanation of rights of the consumer in the Kingdom with the title,” Consumers Should Know Their Consumer Rights.”
In return, those attending voiced their opinions of the current state of consumer and consumerism in Saudi Arabia as well as offering suggestions and calling for the CPA to take matters more seriously in accepting a leading role in consumer protection in the Kingdom.
