Saudi Gazette report RIYADH – Customs authorities have seized counterfeit and fake goods worth SR763.9 million in 2012. “This was an increase of 65.2 percent over goods seized in 2011,” Saleh Al-Kholaiwi, director general of the Saudi Customs, said on Monday. Addressing a press conference held here to brief on the preparations for the third Arab forum on commercial fraud and intellectual property rights, Al-Kholaiwi said the Saudi Customs made major headway in its fight against counterfeit goods in the past few years, thanks to cooperation from the private sector, coordination of concerned agencies and exchange of information. “This resulted in shooting up the volume of seized goods from 2.4 million pieces in 2008 to 48 million pieces in 2011 and 64 million pieces in 2012. The customs officials have seized counterfeit goods worth SR337.6 million in 2010 and SR497.6 million in 2011,” he said. Al-Kholaiwi said the Customs Department was organizing the forum with the objective of strengthening its efforts to prevent the entry of counterfeit products into the Kingdom. The three-day forum will be held at the King Faisal Conference Hall of Riyadh InterContinental Hotel. “Organizing the forum shows our department's keenness in ensuring coordination and participation of the concerned agencies and departments at regional and global levels in fighting commercial fraud and infringement of intellectual property rights to ensure the safety of citizens and to protect the economy,” he said. According to Al-Kholaiwi, the forum will discuss seven pivotal topics. These include efforts of international organizations in preventing infringement of intellectual property rights and fighting commercial fraud, consumer — the last bastion of defense, commercial fraud and infringement of intellectual property rights in e-trade, fully-fledged strategies in countering commercial fraud and protecting intellectual property rights, and successful Arab and global experiments in countering commercial fraud.
