This Saudi Gazette piece notes the problem Arab countries are having with counterfeit goods, including medical supplies. Unfortunately, the article has a bit of a tone of complaining when the local ox gets gored. International companies have been both complaining and offering training for Customs officials for decades, not just in Saudi Arabia, but throughout the region. When it comes to bootlegged videos or CDs, local consumers tend to see counterfeiting as a social good. Perhaps they should think about that in a larger perspective and realize that counterfeiters will fake anything they think will earn them a profit. They don’t really care whether their acts kill off a few customers; there are plenty of other greedy people waiting in line to buy knock-offs.

Kingdom Loses $4b on Fake Goods – Analyst
Mohannad Sharawi

JEDDAH – At least $50 billion is the amount Arab countries lose yearly due to counterfeit products.

The estimate quoted by Mohammad Abu Azab, the business development manager at Hemaya Universal during a press conference held at the company last Tuesday, specified a $4 billion loss for Saudi Arabia.

“The counterfeiting of commercial products has become an international phenomenon that has reached the Kingdom and one to be addressed promptly,” he said.

Abu Azab said that regulations on commercial products to protect consumers are applied around the world except in the Kingdom. In the US and in some European countries, a consumer can return and refund any item that does not match the required standards.

“Whereas consumers here don’t have that kind of protection,” he said.
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