The counterfeit products represent more than 45 percent of the total sum of the automobile parts trade in the Kingdom which led to half the total number of traffic accidents, experts and government authorities said during the first forum on Car Parts Safety held last Monday at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Jeddah and organized by Hemaya Universal. The function was headed by authorities from government and private sectors including Colonel Sa'ad Al-Harthy, vice president of Jeddah Traffic Directory; representatives from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI); Dr. Ahmad Al- Zubaidi, CEO of Hemaya Universal; Eng.Abdulah Khoja, the Saudi Arabian Quality Council, Salem Al Homrany owner of Al- Homrany Limited Company and some owners of car agencies and car parts companies. Under the theme “Let's Do Something”, the first session of the event focused on the current status of the counterfeiting in automobile parts and the prevalence of dealing and trading with counterfeited parts which in many cases don't match the standardizations of the original cars manufacturers. “The big concern of those vendors dealing and promoting faked products is the profit regardless of many losses and deaths that might happen because of using such parts,” Al- Harthy stressed. Al-Homrany said his company has already set up a specialized department as a part of community services to enlighten the consumer and the driver about the dangers of using faked and counterfeited parts. “We spend around SR150 on the specialized devices for testing the merchandise standards” Knoja said. Abdul Aziz Al-Othaimin, head of the administration board in Hemaya Universal, noted that they have received around 2,300 complaints in 2008 form different companies reporting about counterfeited and imitated products of their originals. “Moreover, according to latest figures some 207000 counterfeited tires have been seized,” he added. Dr. Al-Zubaidi warned that the general awareness among Saudis toward the counterfeited parts represents a percentage of 26 where 80 percent of Saudi perfume buyers are aware of counterfeited cosmetic products. “Here is to stir up the awareness of the optimum danger of faked automobile parts and how every consumer ought to report about any counterfeited and un approved products that don't match the ISO standards,” he added. __
