UAE overhauls controls to curb commercial fraud

Abu Dhabi: The Ministry of Economy on Tuesday said it is carrying out a thorough revision of the measures and regulations related to monitoring commercial activities in the UAE.

Replying to a question posed by Rashed Mosbeh Al Kindi Al Marrer, member of the Federal National Council (FNC), Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, in a letter to all FNC members, said: "The ministry is working on a thorough revision of all the procedures and regulations related to monitoring commercial activities to identify the most recent international practices in this respect.

"Legal committees are updating the regulations to ensure better commercial monitoring and to establish an efficient framework of cooperation between all parties," he added.

The ministry has recently established a monitoring department dedicated to combating commercial fraud and counterfeiting in goods and services, and carrying out periodic field inspections in local markets to check violators.

"The department also receives and investigates complaints from other government departments, merchants, and the public in coordination with the concerned authorities, and has recruited 20 additional inspectors in 2007," the letter stated.

"The ministry organised various courses and workshops which included legal apprehension courses for 445 officials," the letter said.

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