RIYADH: A team of inspectors from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Tuesday shut down a factory involved in the production of pipe insulation in Riyadh for forging the country of origin on their products as Kuwait instead of Saudi Arabia.

During the inspection, it was revealed that the factory did not possess the necessary patent to issue the label in the name of another country.

After seizing 20,000 pieces of fake pipe insulation, the MCI summoned the owner of the company for an inquiry into the matter.

The case was unearthed during inspection rounds conducted by MCI personnel on industrial projects in the Second Industrial District in the south of Riyadh, to follow up on works there and to ensure that fraud or manipulation were not being used against consumers.

Based on the report from the inspectors, the Commission for Industrial Violations in the ministry (the body that issues administrative penalties against such factories) ordered the immediate closure of the factory.

The ministry insisted that it will continue to check on all factories and production lines across the Kingdom to verify the conformity of production lines to national standards, and to monitor any violations of working conditions or attempts to cheat consumers.

The ministry called on all consumers to report their complaints and observations in this regard by sending a commercial notification to the authorities concerned.