Habari

Fake goods a fact of life

TANZANIANS will have to learn to live with fake goods, at least for the time being, because there does not seem to be a way blocking them from entering their country, the ‘Sunday News’ has learnt.

RODNEY THADEUS


TANZANIANS will have to learn to live with fake goods, at least for the time being, because there does not seem to be a way blocking them from entering their country, the ‘Sunday News’ has learnt.


Tanzanian officials and traders point a finger at an irresistible push for global free movement of goods at world level, local loose laws and greedy for quick money and super profits as the reasons behind the fakes bought by Tanzanians from super markets and from hawkers.


Although experts admit that fakes hurt the local economy and possibly human health, virtually all of them said the fakes were business ugly unavoidability Tanzanians will have to learn to live with, at least for the time being. Nobody seemed to have an immediate solution to the problem, according to a random survey by the ‘Sunday News’ in the past week.


An expert with the Tanzania Fair Competition Commission (FCC) said counterfeit trade was a global problem that accounts for 30 per cent of traded goods.”If itemized it could account for 80 per cent of the global trade.”


The Minister for Trade, Industry and Marketing, Mr Basil Mramba, admitted over the weekend that the presence of counterfeit products in the market was inevitable. “It is not easy to block or control fake goods from reaching the market,” lamented Minister for Trade, Industry and Marketing Basil Mramba over the weekend, “counterfeit goods have spread in almost every field you can think of.” But the minister remains optimistic and thinks regional efforts could provide a solution in the future.


“We are working jointly in the East African Community to curb the problem; currently discussing how to prevent counterfeit products from entering our region,” he told the ‘Sunday News’.


It was not easy to determine the percentage of traders uninterested in fate good, but some are co-operating with FCC, giving an example for the local agents, a giant multinational company — Philips — who he said co-operated with the commission to help seize a container of alleged counterfeit electrical bulbs under the Phillips trademark.


Port sources named the firm as Great Wall Trading Company Ltd, saying the case was in the hands of the commission.


The agents reported to the FCC the sale of fake goods to Tanzanians with the Philips trade mark. The Acting Director of TBS, Mr Charles Ekelege, said the influx of counterfeit products is a major problem in Tanzania, lamenting that ‘joint efforts’ were needed to curb the imports.


Dar es Salaam University lecturer of economics, Prof Humphrey Mushi, believes” fake products are likely to kill local industries and raise unnecessarily the cost of living.


“Since they are sold cheaply than genuine products, they are more likely to be bought by consumers. But because they are fake they do not last long and so consumers would be forced to spend more on buying the same products”, he noted.


Nonetheless, Prof Mushi thinks TBS was the best placed an institution to help in curbing the spread of fakes on the market. “TBS should be empowered to make regular inspections of locally made products and imports. It will make importers of counterfeits think twice.”


The Managing Director of Kaps Batteries Limited, Mr Bharat Bhorkhtaria, complained that fake motor batteries were hurting battery businesses in Tanzania. “They are cheap to unsuspecting customers.” Mr Mramba said last week officials of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) reported to have received a popular soft drink (name withheld) they deemed to be substandard.


Source: Daily News

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