He was speaking at a session on quality and specifications, and commercial fraud.
Al-Ansari also said fake and counterfeit goods that do not meet with regulations have caused a loss of 200,000 people worldwide.
Saudi Authority of Standards and Metrology and Quality General Manager Fawzi Hakeem said: “We want to stress the need for monitoring the quality of products and goods. It is important now to start adopting and applying quality standards for consumer safety so that consumers receive full protection from commercial fraud.”
He added: “Testing by Saudi Authority of Standards and Metrology and Quality assurance contributes largely to this sector to assure consumers won’t have to face or use counterfeit or fake goods which could do them harm. Recently, our organization was able to pull out of the market more than 250 suspected fake products.”
Hussein Abu Dawood, president of Abu Dawood Industrial Company, said more than 50 percent of all car parts sold in the market are counterfeit. Consumers purchase them without knowing whether they are genuine or fake.
Abu Dawood partly blamed car repair shops, which sometimes hire illegal workers to make quick money by selling fake parts.
Wednesday’s panel jointly agreed for an immediate action by both public and private sector for establishing new programs to tackle the problem of counterfeit goods from being sold into the market.
Panel members also stressed the need to strengthen monitoring procedures by official agencies so that only quality goods are sold to the consumers.
They recommended new strategies to counter fake and counterfeit products, including stiffer penalties for those who are involved in selling counterfeit products to consumers, and that the penalties must depend on the extent of damages the fake parts could cause to the vehicles and society at large.
The session also focused on improving the regulations concerning private testing labs, so that private sector is encouraged to establish quality testing labs.
