Authorities in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, confiscated 100,000 packs of fake engine oil after a sweep last week on a counterfeit operation in the tiny emirate’s industrial area. The Department of Economic Development’s Control and Consumer Protection Department seized what it described as international trademarked products worth 20 million dirham (U.S. $5.45 million).
Engine oil counterfeiting is a global problem, and lubricant producers have deployed a plethora of anti-fraud security measures on packaging and in the fluids themselves.
“The Department of Economic Development in Ajman is very active in taking action against counterfeit goods,” Rasha Al Ardah, a senior associate and intellectual property specialist at Dubai-based law firm Al Tamimi & Co., told Lube Report. “Ajman is attractive to counterfeiters … as it has industrial areas as well as warehousing facilities. As with any city with such facilities, the possibility of finding counterfeit goods is there.”
Ajman’s enforcement authorities, including the Department of Economic Development and the police, have cooperated with brand owners and undertaken several successful anti-counterfeit operations in the emirate, Al Ardah said.
The U.A.E has been a leading country in the Middle East Gulf region in the fight against counterfeiting, Al Ardah said.
The department could not be reached for comment. It remains unclear which brands were counterfeited and what their composition was.