The Ministry of Commerce raided and shut down a manufacturing plant imitating luxury French perfumes with global brand names and distributing the products on the local markets with a fake 'Made in France' labeling.

The ministry officials immediately shut down the factory and confiscated the fraudulent products. An investigation in this regard was initiated against those involved in the crime. The Commerce Ministry’s supervisors conducted the surprise visit to a plant south of Riyadh, discovering large quantities of perfumed liquids stored in refrigerators as well as formal sketches of international perfume brand bottles and their method of production. The workers on site immediately fled the premises when the supervisors arrived. 

In a similar incident, the ministry raided a warehouse in the Eastern Province in Sehat, where employees were packaging locally produced flour and labeling it as “UAE grains,” under the brand of “Consultant Enterprise.” 

The raiding squad closed the warehouse, seizing flour and referring the owner to investigation.  Earlier, on receiving information that a warehouse in Sehat was selling Saudi flour under a fake UAE brand, the ministry officials raided the factory and discovered six tons of local flour with labels claiming to be products manufactured in the UAE. They also found that the factory was involved in violations related to various labor stipulations. A spokesman from the Commerce Ministry pointed out that these raids were aimed at protecting consumers from fake products. In addition, the ministry recently established a department dedicated for industrial supervision, with the aim of monitoring and controlling the sector in order to ensure compliance with regulations and to detect fraudulent practices as well as to impose sanctions.