Police find businessman with counterfeit sanitary pads

Feb 21, 2011

IN a bid to mitigate trade in counterfeit products, the Police have impounded over 2,500 cartons of fake Always sanitary pads from China.

By David Sempijja

IN a bid to mitigate trade in counterfeit products, the Police have impounded over 2,500 cartons of fake Always sanitary pads from China.

The products, worth sh63m, were impounded from the residence of a Rubaga businessman identified as Hajji Kasayi.

The pads are said to have been imported by Dalia Enterprises, an outlet in Kikuubo, Kampala’s busiest business centre.

The genuine manufacturers of Always pads are Procter & Gamble, an American consumer goods giant, while Kiboko Enterprises is the firm’s local sole distributors.

“We call upon the business community to purchase Always pads from only Kiboko Enterprises, our authorised distributor in Uganda,” said Selvan Naidoo, the global security manager of Procter & Gamble.

He said unscrupulous businessmen take brand samples to China for duplication, making Uganda a global leader in the trade of counterfeit goods.

According to Procter & Gamble, about 40% of Always pads on the Ugandan market are fake.

Edward Ochom, the Police criminal investigations department boss, said they were waiting for a court order to have the fake pads destroyed, adding that investigations were continuing to have the culprits prosecuted.

Ochom expressed dismay that counterfeit health products were increasing in Uganda, exposing people’s lives to danger.

“We need to strengthen our working relationship with the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and the Uganda Revenue Authority to counter trade in fake products,” he said.

“Retailers who sell counterfeit products are ripping off consumers and undermining the country’s economy because fake products sell cheaper than genuine ones, thus attracting more demand,” Ochom added.




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