War on counterfeits stepped up with launch of new agency
Counterfeit drugs are destroyed. Local manufactures and importers of genuine brands have been complaining about counterfeits eating into their market share and have been lobbying the government to do away with illegal goods dumped in the country.
An anti-counterfeits agency will be set up to inspect businesses and prosecute offenders in the latest attempt to rid the country of fake products that have been blamed for huge losses in the manufacturing sector.
The team — a result of the Anti-counterfeit Bill of 2008 — will be up and running by August, according to Industrialisation minister Henry Kosgey. He said this last week at a Nokia function meant to create product awareness among customers.
The Anti-Counterfeit Agency will have powers to inspect business premises, gather evidence, and prosecute offenders under the Anti-Counterfeit Bill of 2008 which was passed last year in Parliament, but is yet to be gazetted.
A person convicted of an offence under section 24 or 31 of the Bill shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or a fine not exceeding Sh2 million, or both.
Repeat offenders face a jail terms of up to 15 years, or a fine. Local manufactures and importers of genuine brands have been complaining about counterfeits eating into their market share and have been lobbying the government to do away with illegal goods dumped in the country.
“Counterfeiting is a menace that can no longer be ignored or allowed to continue any more. It must be put to an end immediately if we are to curb economic loss the world over,” Betty Maina, the CEO of Kenya Association of Manufacturers, says on the organisation’s website.
Poorly regulated Illegal and substandard goods have been doing brisk in a poorly regulated market. In May last year, Eveready East Africa scaled down its production by 50 per cent, an effect of competing cheap battery imports mainly from China.
The Kenya Association of Manufacturers estimated that local manufacturers have lost Sh50 billion in sales while the government has lost tax revenues running into billions.
The growth of counterfeits has been attributed by analysts to the rampant poverty levels among consumers.
But this is the case for both cheap domestic items as well as luxury items like electronics, implying a degree of ignorance cutting across whole market segments.
Nokia last week announced plans to roll out an awareness campaign aimed at educating mobile digital device users on the benefits of buying genuine products. A fake Nokia N95 for instance is selling at Sh6,000 compared to Sh30,000 for an original one.
“With the VAT waiver on mobile handsets the war on counterfeit phones in the country needs to be tackled at all levels,” said Gerard Brandje, general manager for Nokia in East and Southern Africa.
Nokia communications manager for East and Southern Africa, Dorothy Ooko, said the firm would push customer education through post-purchase customer services such as mobile clinics where clients get free services like repairs and software updates.
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