Fake goods: CTI appeals to China, India

The Confederation of Tanzania Industries CTI yesterday appealed to governments of Far Eastern countries to institute restrictive measures to prevent importation of counterfeits into the country's domestic markets.

CTI and other organizations have launched anti-counterfeit campaigns as reports show that most of fake products found in Tanzanian markets originate from China and India.

"We believe the two governments are aware of such industries producing counterfeit goods within their countries. It is wrong to say that these governments are unaware of counterfeit goods being produced by their own people," said CTI Chairman Reginald Mengi during a press conference held in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

Some of the products which are extremely prone to counterfeits are cosmetics, toiletries, pharmaceuticals and electrical equipment.

He said Tanzanians had the right to genuine products because a lot of people had already lost their lives due to fake drugs, if not fire incidences resulting from fake electrical equipments.

CTI strongly believes that the war against counterfeits will only bear fruit if governments of the exporting countries will make serious efforts to tame the manufacturers of counterfeits.

Mengi said if these countries failed to stop production of such goods, Tanzanians should stop buying commodities from these countries until they stopped manufacturing counterfeits.

"There are world spots which specialize in manufacturing of counterfeits aimed at countries where anti-counterfeit regulations are either weak or not enforced effectively," he said.

He said Tanzania had turned into a victim of counterfeit foods and drugs that had direct negative effect on people�s health and lives.

Counterfeit machines gadgets, instruments and electrical equipment endanger the safety of people as they may result in the destruction of lives and properties.

Economically, counterfeits erode internal markets and business confidence in a given economy, and negate inward investment in the economy.

This is risky to foreign investors because they cannot invest in an economy whose goods will compete with sub-standard and fake versions of the same products.

The CTI chairman said people who dealt in counterfeits were organized criminals who made huge profits which they could then utilize to interfere with the effective enforcement of anti-counterfeit laws and regulations.

"It is alleged that these are the same criminals who deal with drug trafficking", he said.

He challenged the government to deal with counterfeits as it dealt with drug trafficking.

He commended the Fair Competition Commission, Tanzania Bureau of Standards and Tanzania Food Drug Authority for their efforts in curbing counterfeits.

Meanwhile, FCC Director General Godfrey Mkocha has said that stronger laws to punish people dealing with counterfeits will be instituted.

Apart from destruction of their goods, the culprits will also pay a fine amounting to five million shillings and go to jail for two years.

He called upon retailers to stop buying counterfeits from importers and report to FCC whenever they came across fake goods.

A Quality Assurance Officer from the Tanzania Food and Drug Authority said they had established small laboratories at Dar es Salaam Port, Mwanza, Arusha, Tanga Kilimanjaro and Mbeya towns aimed at testing the quality of imported commodities.

He said according to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 10 percent of all the drugs were counterfeits.In collaboration with FCC, they have formed a national task force that will fight against counterfeits and involve different stakeholders.

Lilian Kimaro, a Deputy Registrar Intellectual Properties of the Business Regulatory and Licensing Authority (BRELA) said producers had to put their trade mark on every product going into the market.