Dubai Consumers will soon be able to check online whether the products they are buying in Dubai are genuine or not.
A senior official of the Dubai Municipality told Gulf News that the civic body plans to make lists of the products which are registered with it available online.
Naseem Mohammad Rafei, head of the Consumer Products Safety Section in the Public Health and Safety Department, said: "Many times consumers were also requesting us for such information and with the creation of an online service they will be able to check the authenticity of their purchases."
Every product goes through an assessment before it gets a final nod to be made available in the market. However, there are incidences where products are rejected or withdrawn from the markets due to reasons such as their failure to comply with the basic requirements, concerns about their composition or bans at the international or regional levels.
Inspections
Most such violations have been related to traditional products and those manufactured on a small scale. From 2009, over 10,000 projects were rejected for various reasons.
"Many times when products are rejected we ask them to make rectifications," said Reda Salman, director of the Public Health and safety Department. Rafei said the municipality conducts regular inspections to keep a check on violations.
The offence could carry a penalty starting from Dh500 per product, she said, speaking on the sidelines of a forum on ‘Challenges in Safety of Consumer Products'.
The two-day forum has brought together professionals in the cosmetics and personal care products industry from various countries to discuss the challenges facing authorities who must ensure that consumer products are safe for use despite variations in international legislation, specifications and practices in different countries.
"We are making efforts toward harmonising procedures and standards," Salman said.
