Wednesday, Nov 30, 2011
Gulf News
Dubai: The UAE Governments zero-tolerance policy against fake products has resulted in the levying of more than Dh1 million in fines in the first nine months of 2011.
The Department of Commercial Control in the Ministry of Economy conducted 19,000 inspections and issued 1,473 fines.
Of the inspections, 8,072 were directly related to consumer protection, 10,063 were related to counterfeit goods, 558 to assess whether copyright laws were followed, and 109 to ensure that trademark laws were being observed, and the rest to factories.
From these inspections, 772 fines were issued in relation to consumer protection, 595 for counterfeit goods, 71 with respect to copyright violations, and the rest related to trademark laws and during factory inspections.
Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, said commercial fraud and counterfeiting are central issues that directly affect economic growth and public safety, and also limit innovation and creativity apart from causing losses to companies and governments.
Amendments
The minister reiterated the importance of the new draft law for consumer protection, which includes amendments to some articles of the current federal law No 24 for 2006 that punishes fraud with penalties ranging from Dh5,000 to Dh1 million.
Al Mansouri also said the ministry is currently working on a new draft law, now in its final stages and expected to be enacted next year, to combat commercial fraud and counterfeiting.
Omar Bu Shehab, Executive Director of Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection in the Dubai Department?of Economic Development, told Gulf News?that traders and legal experts have called for strict implementation of the UAEs trademark and copyright regulations to discourage peddlers of fake goods.
He said the department was continuously revising the list of offences and penalties for trademark infringements and sales of counterfeit products in the country.
Remedial steps
Intensifying the procedures by doubling and tripling the fine amount based on the number of recurrences, closing the shop/store after second violation instead of after the third, carrying out organised and random inspection campaigns at all hours of the day in addition to inspections based on complaints by owners of trademarks or their representatives, atr helping to control these illegal practices, he said.
To educate the public and the business community, the ministry held a series of workshops for the private and public sectors, and also held a conference to combat commercial fraud.
The ministry also participated in international and regional conferences related to censorship laws and took part in trade fairs and exhibitions.
By Zaher Bitar, Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.
