Dubai: More than 26 million fake goods seized in Dubai in 2017 worth Dh1.19 billion were destroyed by authorities on March 13.
The Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP) sector of Dubai Economy led the crushing of the counterfeit goods in a special ceremony attended by trademark owners, law firms, and the media.
Mohammad Ali Rashid Lootah, CEO of CCCP, was present alongside Ebrahim Behzad, Director of Intellectual Property Rights Management at Dubai Economy.
The crushing was done to protect consumers, officials said.
Shoes made up a huge chunk of the seized fake goods in terms of value at Dh400 million. Bags and other leather products came in second at Dh72.1 million.
Fake goods worth Dh73m seized in Dubai in first half of 2017
Counterfeit goods worth Dp0m seized in Ajman
Video: 3 million counterfeit goods seized in Dubai
Cosmetics and phone accessories topped the list in terms of volume, followed by perfume and construction materials. The other goods were car spare parts and batteries.
The goods were fed into a machine that compressed the goods before they would be sent for recycling.
The leather items were placed into a special shredder that destroyed the items within minutes.
Behzad urged consumers not to patronise counterfeit goods as they pose a threat to human health and environment.
