Dubai seizes 139 fakes worth Dh17.6m

Dubai Customs on Sunday said it seized 139 counterfeit items worth Dh17.6 million in the first half of this year as part of its efforts to deter smuggling attempts into the emirate.

The illegal products seized in countering piracy and intellectual property rights infringements include apparels, mobile phones and accessories, automotive spare parts, watches and sunglasses.

Dubai Customs said it always ensures that its inspectors are taking the extra mile and utilizing the best information technology applications to deal with the counterfeit products.

It said the inspectors use in-house developed “Risk Engine” system, which is primarily fed with up-to-date inputs from various resources, enabling it to identify suspected shipments at a high level of accuracy. This system did revolutionize the Customs work especially on the inspection level in an efficient manner, bringing an added value for legitimate trade goods clearance. It also limits and inhibits any unlawful smuggling of counterfeit goods into the country.

Dubai Customs statement said over 84 per cent of risk-free transactions are being assessed via the system, then electronically cleared apart from any human interference, all done in less than two minutes starting from the client’s input of their consignment data into the Customs Clearance System via the available interactive channels, such as smartphones, B2G and internet.

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