RIYADH — The supervisory teams of the Ministry of Commerce have seized more than 498,000 counterfeit stickers as well as machines for printing trademarks, packaging and re-packaging stickers with duplicate dates. The seizure was made during an inspection raid, carried out by the ministry teams, in cooperation with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) and the security forces, on a rest house outside the city of Riyadh. Illegal workers were found engaged in collecting frozen chicken of unknown origin, defrosting them, placing stickers, and marketing them in trays as if they were fresh chicken. The inspection raid was conducted by the ministry after receiving information through its Twitter account, and the inspection was carried out within two hours after the tip off. The supervisory teams found empty cartons to package frozen chicken, and machines used for repacking, forging production dates, and stickers of counterfeit trademarks. The rest house was shut down and legal procedures were taken against the violators. The Ministry of Commerce warned that it will continue inspections to detect any violations in the provisions of the Anti-Commercial Fraud Law and will apply legal procedures against the violators. The violators will be penalized with a maximum jail term of three years and fines up to SR1 million or of both. The violations will be publicized through the local media at the expense of the violators. The foreigners will be deported after serving their jail terms and payment of fines. The ministry urged all consumers to report about violations committed by any establishments and web sites by contacting over the toll free number 1900 or through the application of Balagh Tijari.
