Over a million items of counterfeit medicine and cosmetics seized in Dubai

The Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai recently raided two warehouses and seized over one million items of fake products. The confiscated products, which claimed to be weight loss drugs, performance enhancers or cosmetics, had a street value of about Dh17 million.
The raids, conducted by special teams from the Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection sector in DED, were part of the efforts to protect trademarks and clear unhealthy products and practices from the local market.
Inspectors took 10 hours to complete the raid as each product category was thoroughly checked and verified to identify the counterfeit and fake ones. Among the confiscated goods, those meant for the local market will be destroyed while those stored for re-export will be sent back to their country of origin. DED will also impose fines on the violators.
Abdullah Al Shehi, Director of Intellectual Property Protection Department, said, "We monitor the market and take action against those violating trademarks as such steps are necessary to protect Dubai's reputation as a trading hub and preferred business destination.
"Our teams work round the clock inspecting shops and warehouses, launching campaigns against counterfeiting in co-operation with other government agencies concerned and also conducting investigations and raids whenever needed." Ibrahim Behzad, Senior Manager in the Intellectual Property Rights section of DED, thanked trade mark owners for registering their products and providing updates on products and techniques for identifying counterfeits through workshops and similar sessions.
"Fake products, particularly medicines and cosmetics, not only violate trademarks but also lead to negative, and sometimes long term, impact on public health. Consumers not only lose money buying them but the contents of some of these products such as performance enhancers can also cause cancers if not stored properly," Behzad said.
"The public should keep off such unscrupulous practices and people and alert DED if any such practices come to their attention. Often such stores and salesmen invite you to check their products stored in some nearby buildings, which is an indication that the product is not original and hence can't be displayed inside their stores," added Behzad.