New rules and regulations for protection of intellectual property will be discussed at the three-day First Arab Consumer and Brand Protection Forum starting at the Jeddah Hilton on Sunday. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah Region, is to officially inaugurate the first of its kind forum in the Arab region. It is being organized by Saudi Customs and Hemaya Universal in cooperation with both the Arab League and the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal is the patron of the forum. A number of ministers and elite guests are scheduled to attend the forum. They include Amr Moussa, Secretary General of the Arab League, Dr. Ibrahim Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Assaf, Saudi Minister of Finance, Abdullah Zainal, Minister of Trade, Iyad Madani, Minister of Culture and Information, Saleh Al-Khilawi, General Manager of Saudi Customs and Ahmad Al-Hamdan, Chairman of Hemaya Universal. “The forum is a continuation of the Saudi government's efforts to protect consumers by combating commercial fraud and counterfeiting through legislation and regulations that help in minimizing the spread of fake and adulterated products,” Saleh Al-Khilawi said at a press conference here on Saturday. A total of 12 workshop sessions will be held during the forum, he said. Offering a platform for the concerned public and private sectors to exchange experience and information, the forum broadly aims to raise consumer awareness and unite efforts against the scourge of commercial fraud. “Through the participation of competent public bodies, the forum seeks to develop and activate regulations and laws to protect intellectual property rights and effectively combat fraudulent trade practices and counterfeiting,” Al-Khilawi said. “The emphasis will be on reviewing and updating the relevant regulations and laws for their effective application,” he added. The forum's effort will extend to creating channels of communication with government agencies so as to streamline the flow of accurate information about dealers of counterfeit and fake products. The objectives also include activating the consumer protection groups, drawing up appropriate mechanism to reduce the spread of counterfeiting and piracy, and benefiting from the experiences of developed countries in this regard. “It's a unique opportunity for all the parties and experts concerned to discuss and unify the vision for the formulation of effective strategies to fight commercial fraud and counterfeiting in the Arab World,” Al-Khilawi said. More than 40 speakers and 400 experts in the global fight against commercial fraud will particip--ate in the forum, said Ahmad Al-Hamdan, Chairman of Hemaya Universal, during the press conference. The regional and international bodies participating in the forum include World Customs Organization, Intellectual Property Protection Unit at the European Union, the US Office for the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights and Patent, Gulf Standardization Organization, Saudi Specifications and Standards Organization, Saudi Consumer's Protection Society and Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Jeddah and Riyadh, said Al-Hamdan. Scheduled on the first day (October 19) is the main workshop themed ‘Capacity Building' that includes four sub-workshops. The first workshop titled ‘Scope of the Global Challenge in Combating Trade in Counterfeits,'” to be conducted by Todd Reeves, from the Office of Intellectual Property Policy and Enforcement, United States Patent and Trademark Office. The second workshop will be titled “Building a Case for Criminal Prosecution in Counterfeit Goods Cases,” for which the speaker is Mohamed Shaltout, Intellectual Property Specialist, US Embassy Cairo. The third workshop, titled “Collaboration between Customs Authorities & the Private Sector,” has Mike Watson, Brand Protection Manager, CISCO, as the speaker. The fourth and final workshop is titled “Features of Development and Modernization of Customs in Saudi Arabia,” with Rashid Abdullah and Ibrahim Moussa as the speakers. This will be followed by a closed roundtable discussion chaired by Dr. Mohammed Al-Twaijiri, Arab League's Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs, involving members of the forum's Scientific Committee and competent bodies of the public sector. __
