The dangers of using counterfeit products are as well-documented as is the compulsive psychology that drives people to buy them. And unfortunately, there is a standoff between the two that does not lend itself to the continual efforts of the authorities who expend considerable time, energy and resources year after year in cleaning up the market place of these substandard, and sometimes downright dangerous, products.
According to figures released by Dubai’s Department of Economic Development, 67.7 million pieces of counterfeit goods were seized in the emirate in 2016, a 7 per cent jump over the numbers for 2015 — 63.3 million pieces. The range of goods include mobile phones, cosmetics, accessories and most disconcertingly, construction material, with the total value of the seized goods in 2016 estimated at Dh1.16 billion.
It’s not difficult to see the scale of the problem. A problem that, in the ultimate analysis, is consumer-driven. So how will there be a change in this regard? After all, there has been no dearth of awareness campaigns conducted by the authorities and there is a mountain of information in the public domain on the risks posed by fake goods and how they violate intellectual property rights and corrupt healthy market dynamics.
Change will come when every individual realises that they are part of a larger responsibility that must prevail. Each time we read of a case of a woman who developed a life-long allergy after using a fake beauty product, or of how someone got electrocuted due to a fake plug, it is an indictment of our collective failure to stamp out this scourge. The game changer will be when people uphold their scruples and personal safety over the lure of these substandard products.
