Private security companies have begun helping the government to fight the onslaught of counterfeit goods in the Kingdom. A manager at one security company said that large quantities of products that are copies of the originals are regularly aimed at the poor and less educated. Abdulaziz Al-Othaimin, a member of the administrative board of Hemaya Universal, a security company in Jeddah, said that consumers should be more diligent in distinguishing the real products from the fakes. “Now there are consumers who come to us to tell them whether the products they are about to buy are real or bogus,” he said. “We can verify if a product is genuine or a knock-off within 24 hours.” Hemaya Universal has a task force especially dedicated to the eradiation of pirated goods in the Saudi market. “Our company is on a mission to help consumers avoid falling victim to piracy, as well as raising public awareness about these products,” added Othaimin. “This issue is more crucial to the safety and stability of the society that people might think. Sayed Mahmoud Al-Sayed, a training specialist at the company, offered some unsettling statistics. Losses suffered by the Saudi economy amount to some SR15 billion annually. GCC countries lose about SR27 billion a year, and Arab countries combined have to suffer in excess of SR57 billion. On a global scale, the world economy had lost anywhere from $360 billion to $800 billion between 1996 and 2006 because of counterfeiting and piracy. Aside from poor consumer awareness, the real problem with counterfeiting is that it is very easy. With the latest technologies available more or less off the shelf, counterfeiters can exactly replicate the logos and brand names of the original items, according to Ahmad Al-Ghamdi, director of consumer protection operation at the same security company. “The easiest way to trick a consumer is by faking the trademark, so it becomes difficult to distinguish between the original and the fake product,” said Ghamdi. Sayed said there are many reasons for the rise in product piracy, not least of which are the relatively lenient penalties for the crime. “One reason is the low levels of legal risk involved,” he said. “If someone is caught counterfeiting goods, all they probably get is a minor penalty fine. It's really just a slap on the wrist in most cases.” Another problem is the severe deficiency in trained personnel to tackle an issue as far-reaching as this. Othaimin said his company has plans to train 6,000 inspectors over the next three years. What compounds the deficiency in personnel is that most illegal counterfeiting operations take place in the rural areas of the Kingdom. “There are not enough police and government officials in these areas to catch them right away,” Ghamdi said. Othaimin suggested that awareness about buying only genuine goods should begin as early as the kindergarten level, so children grow up to be responsible consumers. He added that the inflation the Kingdom is going through is an ideal environment for counterfeiters. Steeply rising prices mean that fakers have guaranteed customers for their bogus goods among people with lower incomes. The US had been the first country to put a number on the market for pirated goods, estimating it at 32 percent of its GDP in the 1980s. Ten years later, that was reduced to 22 percent. In Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, more than 50 percent of the market is about pirated goods, said Othaimin. Many consumers have learned the hard way that if the price sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. The daughter of Hind Al-Arifi, a Saudi housewife, suffered inflammations to her face. She used to buy cheap, no-brand soap bars and use them to bathe her daughter. “My husband said it may have been the soap, but I didn't believe him until my doctor said the same thing,” she said. Status-conscious college students tend to rationalize their purchases of bogus goods. And with their low allowances, they have an excuse. And that is exactly what Wed Jastaniyh does. “Whenever there was a bazaar at my university, I would go to buy a handbag that is similar to the original, but I would only pay SR40, which is a fraction of the price of the genuine article,” she said. “To me, it is more important to have something similar to the original brand than having the original bag itself.” __
