As our ports have become centres of global trade facilitating the movement of goods between the major manufacturing regions in Asia, Europe and beyond, they have increasingly fallen victim to the illicit trade in fake goods. However, recent raids and prospective laws demonstrate our commitment to cracking down on this nasty business, which plagues the global economy.
It is no surprise that the movement of counterfeit goods is part of a flourishing trade with proven links to global extremists and criminal networks. No country or market is immune to its reach. That is why Dubai’s recent seizure of counterfeit goods – estimated to contain over 3 million items, worth a staggering Dh195m, found in raids on three factories in the city – is a welcome development in our war on fakes.
The Department of Economic Development organised an event in Dubai to showcase how these illegal goods – including sunglasses, smartphones and other accessories, are disposed of when seized. The event highlighted how some of the fake smartphones are sold. In the first half of this year, for example, authorities blocked 40 Instagram accounts and 490 websites for promoting and selling counterfeit goods, warning traders against using social networking sites to promote their counterfeit products. This illicit trade extends beyond Dubai into Abu Dhabi, where the authorities have confiscated 50,000 fake items worth about Dh1.4 million over the past several years.
To best combat this growing business, we must provide local law enforcement with the resources to prevent this trade from expanding within our borders. We need to maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards fraud with new laws to embolden law enforcement authorities.
A new anti-fraud bill will soon come into effect with the goal of curtailing the recent spike in counterfeit trading. Under the draft law, traders of counterfeit and illicit goods will be heavily penalised. Like the war on drugs, this war on fakes will demand continuing vigilance from all sectors of society.
