The Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry held in collaboration with Saudi Customs a workshop on Monday to look at ways of detecting commercial fraud in the light of national losses of SR11 billion due to imitation products. The session, entitled “Private laboratories: Commercial Fraud and Imitation of Goods”, saw the Director General of Customs Saleh Al-Khelaiwi speak on the use of private laboratories in detecting fraudulent goods and other means of identifying violations. According to Abdul Lateef Al-Nasser of the Chamber's Gold Committee, organizers are seeking to improve the quality of imported goods. “We want to prevent poor quality products from entering the country and impose international standards and specifications on imported goods,” Al-Nasser said. “The lack of adherence to standards and specifications over the years has led to the local market being flooded with such products.” Al-Nasser noted that standards existed, but were being “ignored in the Kingdom and the Gulf”. The situation, he said, is improving however. “What we need to do now is impose them more strictly to cut the quantity of fake products finding their way onto the market. One way that can be achieved is by putting in place conditions for private laboratories to ensure reliability and accuracy,” he said.
