tasattur law is crucial for the Kingdom's progress as it aims to protect the national economy and prevent illegitimate competition as well as cases of commercial fraud and cheating.DAMMAM — A comprehensive national campaign to combat tasattur is to start at the end of this year, Dr. Abdullah Darea Al-Enaizi, Director of the Anti-Tasattur Department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said here Wednesday. The campaign will include awareness programs and different procedures such as allowing citizens to participate in combating the phenomenon which affects the national economy and has social and security effects, Dr. Al-Enaizi added. Tasattur or coverup cases involve foreigners paying Saudis to operate businesses under their names. The practice is illegal. Delivering a lecture at the Dammam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Al-Enaizi said the anti-tasattur law is crucial for the Kingdom's progress as it aims to protect the national economy and prevent illegitimate competition as well as cases of commercial fraud and cheating. The law, he pointed out, will also prevent expatriates from competing with citizens in certain business activities and will limit their control or monopoly over certain business fields. “The law did not exist before 2005. It was formulated to organize the practice of certain business activities by expatriates. The Kingdom is not the only country which has passed this law. All GCC countries and other countries have certain laws which give citizens priority in practicing certain business activities.” The Saudi Gazette was one of the prominent media outlets to have drawn the attention of authorities to this illegal business. Over 120,000 commercial businesses in Jeddah are run on the lines of tasattur, the Saudi Gazette reported last year quoting a ministry source. “Tasattur businesses have virtually a complete monopoly on the retail sector. Shops, stores and outlets operating under tasattur are rife across the country, and many guest workers have expanded their tasattur businesses by bringing in relatives, thereby depriving Saudi nationals of their right to work in their own country,” the Saudi Gazette quoted the source as saying. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry uncovers hundreds of tasattur cases during its periodic inspections of enterprises. A recent report said the ministry's General Administration for Commercial Coverup referred about 250 cases to the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution.
