CAIRO-Experts have sternly warned against the hazards of counterfeit goods in Egypt and stress the importance of cooperative efforts of the Government and private sector to combat this illegal trade Central to a roundtable HP seminar recently held at the Nile-side Concorde Hotel were endeavours to increase public awareness of the dangers posed by purchasing counterfeit printing supplies. Ernest Azzam, the HP Middle East, Laser & Enterprise Solutions Business Manager, told the gathering: “We believe that continued co-operation with local authorities and increased public awareness will give everyone a greater understanding of the true cost of counterfeiting. The counterfeit business will go down as a result. We are on the right track.” Counterfeiting in fake toner and ink printing cartridges is estimated to be a multi-billion dollar trade worldwide, with organised crime syndicates often behind the illegal manufacture, distribution and sale. Fraudulent merchandise also takes legal jobs out of the marketplace and diminishes tax receipts. Cairo-based economist Mohamed el-Saadany illustrated the damaging effects the counterfeit trade has on the Egyptian economy. “The value of trade in all counterfeit goods within Egypt is conservatively measured at US$150 million; however, by nature of their secretive operations the real value will undoubtedly be much higher. The impact for reputable business in terms of lost trade and customer brand confusion will be higher still,” el-Saadany said. Azzam said that in the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions a total of 3.7 million pieces of counterfeit HP printing supplies were seized from November 1, 2008 through July 2010. “We work closely with the local authorities here in Egypt and a number of significant seizures of counterfeit products have occurred in the last 12 months. HP will continue to assist enforcement agencies in their difficult task of identifying and acting on fraudulent operators throughout the region,”. Azzam added. Commenting on HP Middle East Anti-counterfeit efforts,. Saeed Al Alfi, the Chairman of Egypt's Consumer Protection Agency, affiliated to the Ministry of Trade and Industry said: “I congratulate HP Middle East on its efforts to raise public awareness to combat counterfeit operators in the region, and we will continue to cooperate with the private sector to bring increased vigilance to this important issue.”
