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Tanzania: Govt Steps Up War On Counterfeit Products
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The East African (Nairobi)
24 March 2008
Posted to the web 24 March 2008
Joseph Mwamunyange
Nairobi
Tanzania has stepped up the war against counterfeits by destroying goods worth over $224,000 in March alone.
The Anti-Counterfeit Department at the Fair Competition Commission started at anti-counterfeits campaign last year; it has so far destroyed goods worth $278,000 in 11 separate swoops .
John Essau Mponela, head of the Anti-Counterfeit Department, said the largest single consignment of fake goods was destroyed at the Pugu Kinyamwezi dumpsite on March 14.
Among the counterfeits destroyed were Philips electric bulbs, Kiwi shoe polish, Sony Wega TV sets and an assortment of electrical goods, all imported from China.
In the latest swoop by the department, goods belonging to importers in Dar es Salaam and Tanga were netted. They included 700 cartons of unbranded frosted bulbs worth $14,000, a consignment of counterfeit Cello pens worth $60,000 and 447 cartons of counterfeit oil filters worth $150,000.
A Kenyan ballpoint manufacturer - Haco Industries - recently said it was losing an estimated $5 million due to counterfeits being sold in Tanzania and Uganda.
Tanzania is said to be well ahead of its East African neighbours in the war against counterfeits.
Mr Mponela said his department was sounding a warning to the business community and merchandise importers to desist from importing and trading in counterfeit goods as they stand to face stern legal actions, including cancellation of their business licences, fines, imprisonment and destruction of their merchandise at their own cost.
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Tanzania recently amended the Merchandise Act, which now gives the department power to search and destroy counterfeit goods at points of sale and not only points of entry, as was the case in the past.
Haco said it had set aside an annual budget of $20,000 to counter the fake products and a further $21,600 to employ staff to monitor the infringement of its products in the region.
Sara Lee's Kiwi shoe polish faces challenges from fakes bearing names such as Kivi, Kiki, Kimi and Kini, among others.
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