- Commercial counterfeiting and inspection of markets and products addressed
Various hot topics were tackled during a meeting held recently between H.E. Ali bin Salem Al Mahmoud, Director General at the Sharjah Economic Development Department (SEDD), and H.E. Ali Ibrahim, Deputy General Manager at the Dubai Economic Development Department (DED). During the meeting, which took place at SEDD's headquarters, issues such as the enhancement of economic performance, coordination regarding licenses and warehouse inspection campaigns, managing the work mechanism of inspectors, procedures adapted by the two departments regarding services provided to a wide range of clients, exchange of experiences, and controlling commercial counterfeiting were raised.
"A number of focal topics were discussed during the meeting," said Al Mahmoud. "The focus, however, was on commercial counterfeiting, customer protection, preserving the reputation of the local economy through market monitoring and prohibiting products which would otherwise bring harm to the marketing process. The problem specifically is that providers spend large sums of money to bring quality products to the market and attract customers, only to see that their efforts have gone to waste due to the bad quality of the products and, resultantly, customers turning away from them."
Added Al Mahmoud: "On the other hand, the customer is also exposed to material and abstract losses, represented by purchasing products without knowing their actual value and the fact that he's been cheated, or robbed. These factors generate a lack of confidence in the provided products on the part of the customer, and greatly damages commercial exchange between the UAE and other countries in the world."
Both SEDD and DED representatives stressed the importance of preparing and issuing the actual specifications of products according to international standards, and ensuring that imported products are compatible with these standards through laboratory tests before product approval.
The parties agreed on the importance of collaborating with countries that has high credibility in the field of product safety and who issue "source certificates" on their exported products, meaning that these products have been tested and checked. These procedures greatly facilitate entry of products into the country, as long as products are compliant with international quality standards.
The role of inspection teams in controlling commercial counterfeiting and suspending unlicensed businesses was praised during the meeting. Furthermore, SEDD and DED representatives agreed on coordinating with various establishments, such as the Customs Department and the Ministry of Trade and Industry in the country involved upon product entry to control the admission of counterfeit products. Cooperation with highly regarded international organizations such as the World Customs Organization, Interpol, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Trade Chamber, etc. was also highlighted.
