EAC firms lose Sh180b to traders in fake goods

“Counterfeiters have changed tack and are no longer handling cheap and poor quality products that easily attract suspicion but well made and competitively priced items that are difficult to detect,” said Mr Muriithi.

He said the fight against sub-standard products and counterfeits has failed because most importers prefer to declare standard specifications for imports.

Investors in the region have organised a ministerial forum to be held in Nairobi between October 6 and 7 in the hope of ring fencing the 126 million people EAC common market from merchants of fake items.

The conference which seeks to come up with a regional approach to fighting counterfeits will focus on the rigid processes that courts apply to let off offenders with light sentences, half-hearted enforcement of the existing laws and failure by investors to protect their brands through registration.