Counterfeiters change identity to circumvent ban

Circumventing the crackdown on fake and duplicate products, companies manufacturing these items have changed their strategy to enter the UAE market in a smart way.

The UAE Government has stepped up its crack down on fake and counterfeit products entering the country by identifying the items and destroying them in bulk.

It then identifies the manufacturers and exporters of these products in their countries of origin and bans them from the UAE market.

However, these dubious players are smartly coming back to the market under different brand names and company names.

Speaking to Emirates Business, industry sources said counterfeit producers from China and other countries have identified a novel way to circumvent the ban on fake brands.

Shane Yang, Middle East representative of Nankang Rubber Tire Corporation, a leading player in the GCC tyre market, said: "The tyre market in the UAE and other GCC countries started picking up since March 2009. However, many counterfeit and fake brands are still entering the market. If a company is banned in the UAE for selling fake products or posing as an established brand, they simply change the company name and sell the same products at further discounted rates."

Customs or port authorities crack down on fake companies using the brand and company names. Once companies change names, it is difficult to track them down.

The fake and duplicate market is a global industry with major manufacturers being located in China and other part of Asia.

The Brand Protection Group, a leading group of multinational companies, recently claimed that they have identified 765 billion counterfeit items through the quality brand protection group in China. The Interpol, World Customs Union and local customs authorities track down such companies, but after being caught they simply change names.

An automobile spare parts dealer in Dubai said: "The demand for spare parts was affected by the recent economic downturn and forced many dealers to keep less stock fearing lower sales and price volatility. As there was a shortage in the market, the fake producers made a killing. They import these products, repack them in local warehouses and sell them freely. Duplicate spare parts are an integral part of the automobile industry."

Andrew Sarkissian, Vice-President, Export Sales, Diesel Parts of America, manufacturers of replacement diesel fuel injection products for heavy equipment engine applications, said: "Only our company and Caterpillar make original diesel engine spare parts. Even though it is not easy to copy our products, duplicate manufacturers – we suspect from China – even put 'Made in USA' labels on their products and sell them at substantially cheaper rates. They have even copied our website to cheat customers."

The California-based company manufactures replacement parts for Cummins, Detroit Diesel, Caterpillar and other American companies.

Somi Massoud, Overseas Sales Manager, Megacell International, a Bangkok-based Original Equipment Manufacturer, said: "Fake batteries have been a serious problem. We are trying to protect our brand by using laser technology to imprint on all our batteries. While normal printing will be easy to copy and duplicate, laser printing will be expensive and difficult to copy. We are planning to introduce laser technology to make distinctive imprints on the batteries."

Laser imprint, using tamper proof nanotechnology is quite expensive.

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