The UAE government’s adoption of an anti-fraud law will help prevent fraudulent tyres from being sold in a “parallel market”, according to Abdulla Al Gurg, Group General Manager, Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, which have exclusive distribution rghts for Dunlop tyres in Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

The law -which was approved by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in January 2017 – imposed stricter penalties on counterfeiters and detailed the establishment of a federal committee to fight commercial fraud and work on counter-fraud strategies and bring responsible parties to account.

According to Al Gurg, “tyres sold by the parallel market do not meet GSO standards which are mandatory for the GCC region nor do they conform to the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) specifications.”

“Some parallel tyres are meant for other markets with differing weather conditions and should not ply on the roads of UAE as their construction, compound and pattern may be different,” he added.

“Some parallel tyres are meant for other markets with differing weather conditions and should not ply on the roads of UAE as their construction, compound and pattern may be different.”

In the case of manufacturing defects, Al Gurg noted that “the unauthorized seller does not take responsibility unlike the original distributor who provides warranties. Illegally imported tyres could fail prematurely and cause accidents leading to vehicle damage and possible loss of life.”

To combat the scourge of illicit tyres, the Easa Salah Al Gurg Group noted that it is working in “close coordination” with government authorities in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, such as Esma, the Sharjah Economic Department and the Ministry of the Economy to “minimize occurences of fraudulent imports.” According to Al Gurg, the “new law is a strong statement from the UAE Federal Government to fight fraud in goods (counterfeit products), contractual jobs and services offered by businesses across the UAE, including free zone companies.

“It is also a powerful tool for legal prosecution of such violators to severely implement anti-counterfeit strategies to protect IP Rights and brand reputation within the entire territory of the UAE,” he added.

“In view of the new legislation ESAG’s Group Legal team will advise further on efficient legal strategies and additional legal measures for our businesses to protect their brand portfolio and IP rights in line with the new regulations against any infringer. Part of the anti-counterfeit strategy will be an awareness program in form of an anti-fraud law seminar to be conducted in the second week of March as well as a customized legal measures for concerned businesses.”