Some of the products nabbed by the Anti-Counterfeit Agency recently in Mombasa. [Photo/the-star.co.ke]
Counterfeit products valued at Sh1.2 billion have been seized by the Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) in the last seven years in the country.
ACA chief inspector Caspar Oluoch said so far fake goods worth Sh500 million have been destroyed.He said most of the goods were electronic gadgets including mobile phones, DVD players, toners, print cartridges and bulbs.Others were Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), refilling equipment, detergents and illicit sugar. Also sized were consignments of cigarettes imported from China but declared as cotton at customs buds.Oluoch said the fake cigarettes valued at Sh43 million and sized in Mombasa in 2012 were burnt in 2014.The counterfeit sugar was sized in Mombasa in 2014. The sugar had been imported from Brazil and packaged as local sugar to avoid detection. Rice from Pakistan is also among products nabbed at the Mombasa port.“Through support from the customs administration, the police and other agencies we have been able to prevent counterfeit cargo worth Sh1.2 billion from getting into the market,” Oluoch said at PrideInn Beach Resort in Mombasa during an international workshop on combating counterfeits and piracy on Thursday.“The counterfeit and illicit goods are not only dangerous to people’s health but also affect the business of local manufacturers,” he said.ACA also raised alarm over the supply of fake soft drinks in the market. “The counterfeiters use hawkers to sell the juices especially at bus terminus and along the streets of towns,” Oluoch said.He called on the public to avoid buying soft drinks at bus terminuses and along streets.