TenIntelligence’s Anti-counterfeiting Team in Partnership with Dubai Customs

Throughout the month of June 2020, a time in which there were lockdown restrictions across the UAE, our Dubai team continued to provide pro-active online training to Dubai Customs authorities on the identification of counterfeit goods. The training events were organised through its membership with the Gulf Brand Protection Group.

The raids with Dubai Customs seized approximately Dh188,000 worth of counterfeit items included sports shoes, computers and headphones.

Urging people to stay alert to counterfeit products, Shuaib Al Suwaidi, director of Dubai Customs Intelligence Department, said such items were not welcome in the Emirates. “We take care of all information that help us thwart all types of smuggling to protect our society from the hazards of illegitimate goods.  We work together with different partners to ensure they don’t enter the emirate.”

The recycling was carried out by Colour Code waste treatment plant in Dubai.

In 2018, authorities in Dubai seized and destroyed Dh332m worth of fake goods. The Department of Economic Development said a total of 19.9 million counterfeit items were confiscated from traders in the emirate. The figure indicated an improvement on the situation since 2016 when DED announced it had recovered fake goods worth Dh1.6 billion. The items, which were seized by the intelligence department, included sports shoes, computers and headphones.

The authority was alerted to a number of suspicious shipments arriving from a country in Asia. On investigation, a task force team from Dubai Customs intercepted the cargo and seized and confiscated 1,906 separate counterfeit goods.

Malek Hanouf, Chief Executive of the Brand Owners’ Protection Group, an organisation that seeks the enforcement of intellectual property laws, said recycling such items helped brand owners destroy copied products that could pose a danger to unaware consumers. It also helps to reduce the harmful effect on the environment caused by the illegal fake goods trade.

In July, TenIntelligence conducted enforcement raids in the Emirates of Ajman and Dubai with the Department of Economic Development (DED in Ajman) and the Criminal Investigations Department (Dubai Police). The raids successfully removed nearly 35,000 products from the local UAE market (Ajman: 11,501/Dubai: 23,439).

Following on from the raids, the TenIntelligence team regularly follows up with the relevant authorities to ensure the counterfeit goods are destroyed and in July 2020, our team witnessed in the presence of officials from Dubai Customs and Dubai Public Prosecution, the destruction of counterfeit footwear.