Qong Izeng, the deputy governor of Jajiang province, made his recommendation during a speech at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Qong was accompanied by a 21-member delegation representing a number of Chinese companies.
“Chinese factories are finally realizing the negative impact on their industries through an increase of complaints and lawsuits that are being filed periodically from both international businesses and high-quality factories within China that have said poor quality products are affecting their reputation globally,” he said.
According to data provided by the Chinese government, trade in 2010 between Jajiang province and Saudi Arabia amounted to SR3.8 billion, an increase of 38 percent over 2009 figures.
In 2010, China reportedly bumped Japan down to the No. 2 position with China taking over the spot of second-largest economy in the world.
The governor also said that in order to help reduce counterfeit products on a global scale, his government recently launched a campaign to target companies selling poor quality or fake goods and vowed that companies that fail to comply with international safety and quality standards would be punished.
Saudi Arabia has adopted a number of laws over the past 30 years to combat counterfeit goods, trademark infringement and commercial fraud. However, the job of eradicating goods from the local market has been a difficult one with many companies continuing to import fake goods and selling them to local consumers either knowingly or unknowingly. Despite all efforts, sale of such goods flourishes in the Kingdom.
So what are Saudi companies to do?
According to a report issued in 2008 by the United Trademark and Patent Services, which works in the Kingdom in association with the Hasan Al-Mulla Law Firm in Riyadh, companies in Saudi Arabia who are concerned that they have purchased counterfeit goods and would like to file a complaint can do so with the Ministry of Commerce under a number of international laws adopted by Saudi Arabia, such as the Commercial Fraud Law adopted by royal decree in 1984 and the Trademark Law adopted in 2002.
“The Saudi Customs Department provides a monitoring service to prevent the import and export of counterfeit goods. However, the system is not as developed, organized and reliable as in some other countries,” said M. Salman Khan, head of the Saudi Office for the Patent and Trademark Department of the United Trademark and Patent Services, the author of the report.
Khan added in his report that if any company wishes to protect its rights in Saudi Arabia it may submit a petition to the Saudi Customs authorities through a lawyer requesting that Customs authorities at all ports search for and detain any suspected counterfeits.
“It is also worth pointing out that in Saudi Arabia, Islamic law applies in all matters notwithstanding whether they are criminal or civil in nature. Unlike other countries, in Saudi Arabia all piracy and counterfeiting actions are handled from both a criminal and civil perspective,” Khan said in the report.
He concluded that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is empowered to enforce provisions of the law and that any actionable company found guilty of infringement under the Commercial Fraud Law in relation to deception or fraud concerning the essential quality or origin of goods could be fined from SR5,000 to SR100,000 or have their businesses closed for 7 to 90 days. He stated that if the item is food or medicine for human or animal consumption the minimum fine could be doubled.
