Counterfeit Horror

The blog Class 46 reports of a counterfeit case in Italy in which the accused persons were sentenced to varying terms in prison for counterfeiting Johnson $ Johnson Baby shampoo.

The horrifying part is that the counterfeit shampoo was found to cause allergy, irritation and even worse that it could seriously affect the cornea. It is rather distressing to note that the counterfeits were baby products, with such dire consequences and the people engaging in the practice were unremorseful even when caught in the act.

The fact that the accused person were recorded laughing that the fake product was so poor in quality that it stunk like pigsty, serves to remind all of us of the danger posed by very cheap products being sold every day on our streets. It reminds me of those glaze eyed fellows who accost you in the streets of Nairobi with what they call “promotional sale” in which they offer to give you two or three products free if you buy one. And what of medicine imported into Kenya from all over the world in the name of parallel importation? As the adage goes, cheap may not after all be that cheap.

For anti counterfeiting raid in Tanzania see previous post here

War on counterfeits

The Eastafrican reports that the Anti-Counterfeit Department in Tanzania has destroyed counterfeit goods worth over $224,000.

The report indicates that the products destroyed included Philips bulbs, Kiwi shoe polish and Sony Wega Television sets imported from China.

Haco Industries, a Kenyan company that manufactures the famous BIC brand pens is reported to be losing about $5 million annually due to counterfeiting activities in Tanzania and Uganda.

Another product targeted by the counterfeiters is Sara Lee’s Kiwi shoe polish, the counterfeits bearing fancy names such as Kivi and Kimi.

In Kenya, efforts to enact an Act of parliament against counterfeiting have not been successful so far. In 2005 a draft Bill was circulated for discussion by the Ministry of Trade, but it has not materialized into an Act of Parliament. Hopefully it will in the course of this year.