The Anti-Counterfeit Agency has received Sh150 million to develop an online platform that will help local consumers check and report on fake products.
The platform will allow consumers to detect fake goods after keying in unique products identification numbers such as barcodes, serial and batch numbers with zero results indicating counterfeits.
This comes as the government steps a campaign against illicit goods to protect local manufacturers and boost consumers safety.
The Anti-Counterfeit Agency has received Sh150 million to develop an online platform that will help local consumers check and report on fake products.
The platform will allow consumers to detect fake goods after keying in unique products identification numbers such as barcodes, serial and batch numbers with zero results indicating counterfeits.
This comes as the government steps a campaign against illicit goods to protect local manufacturers and boost consumers safety.
“We are now witnessing illicit trade crime sophistication due to IT in wrong hands. 3D technologies can now copy anything including trademarks and barcodes. We will now nab those using quick response systems among others,” said ACA chairperson Flora Mutahi Monday.
The State agency also said the platform would shorten the period taken to verify and clear goods at the entry points.
The move will boost the country’s fight against illicit trade after the government intensified a crackdown on fakes worth at least Sh7.5 billion since May.
The goods involved range from sugar, cigarettes, electric cables to galvanised iron sheets.
More than 180 foreigners have also been arrested and charged in court since the crackdown by a multi-agency committee began. The team comprises officials from Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Bureau of Standards, National Police Service and the anti-counterfeit body.
