Fake goods seized in Abu Dhabi mobile shops

The Abu Dhabi authorities have seized more than Dh200,000 worth of Chinese mobile phones in the biggest raid ever conducted against the capital's cell phone trading hub, dealers said yesterday.

Inspectors from the Ministry of Economy (MoE) took traders off guard when they stormed their shops on Defence Road last week and cleaned up their shelves and drawers of all Chinese products with famous brand names.

Inspectors have raided shops in the past two years but last week's raid was the biggest ever conducted by the ministry against Chinese phones. Dealers said the inspectors seized more than 500 Chinese mobile handsets in the three-hour raid on 30 shops.

"We have warned them many, many times but they will not listen," said one of the inspectors. "They continued to trade in Chinese handsets, chargers and batteries that carry famous brand names such as Nokia and Sony Ericsson… They don't realise that they are violating copyright and intellectual property laws in the country."

Shop owners said they were fined Dh2,500 each for the offence and had all their Chinese mobile handsets and accessories confiscated.

In previous raids, the inspectors had seized only Chinese products which are produced as copies of well-known global brands. But traders said the inspectors last week seized all Chinese products, including unbranded ones.

"They took all our Chinese phones… more than 50 handsets. They cleaned up our shop, we were also fined Dh2,500," said Jamil Falah, Manager of Al Sultan Mobiles on Defence Road.

Mobile phone traders on Defence Road, which has more than 100 cellular phone shops, said there had been a surge in random raids by MoE inspectors. In weekly surprise visits, inspectors have confiscated millions of dirhams worth of Chinese mobile phones and associated products carrying names of famous brands such as Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and other key manufacturers.

"I don't think we will be dealing in Chinese phones any more, even those that do not feature famous brands…This will save us trouble with the authorities… Who knows, they might eventually decide to shut down our shops if we continue in such a trade," said Ahmed Hariri, another mobile phone dealer.

The bulk of Chinese mobile phones marketed in the UAE are imported through Dubai and large quantities are re-exported to nearby Gulf Co-operation Council states and other countries. Demand for such handsets in the UAE has remained strong given their cheap prices, which could retail at just Dh200.

Besides handsets, Chinese phone batteries, chargers and accessories have filled up the shelves of cellular phone shops, prompting authorities to take action. Inspectors have been seen confiscating thousands of such items on Defence Road inthe past months but many shops continued to deal in such phones despite official warnings given their high profitability.

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