Business Perspective : Watch out for counterfeit goods

I read a newspaper a few days ago that eighty percent of the phones that we buy are not genuine. Well, truth be told I was not surprised. This reminded me of a story. A few years ago I asked my elder sister to buy us a TV from where she lives, we considered it would be cheaper, and bring to us because the one we had at home had outlived its use. So my sister bought this TV put it in a bus and sent it to us. We received it with a lot of excitement as we took down the old one from the stand.As the children were trying to fix this TV, one of them commented that the TV was very light, but no one bothered and they continued to set it up. After what took like twenty minutes, the boys tried to tune the TV on the local channel and other channels, but it refused. So we decided to call a neighbour who is a technician. The man came and opened the TV but we were very shocked to find that the TV was empty inside! Meaning it was just a shell and nothing more. I informed my sister, who went to complain and met many more customers at the same shop complaining about other electronics not being originals.The owner of the shop chased all the people who had gone there to complain about his fake goods including my sister. A few months later my sister informed us that the man was now paying for his ill deeds after selling a fake phone to a well known man and was put behind bars for three years.What many people don’t know is that trade in counterfeit products is reaching epidemic proportions and has recently been described as ‘perhaps the world’s fastest growing and most profitable business’. Casual observers are becoming increasingly aware of the presence of fakes in the markets for a wide variety of products. These include not only the luxury consumer goods such as designer clothing, watches, and perfumes, which have traditionally been subject to forgery; but also higher-technology consumer electronic products such as computers and stereo equipment. There is also mounting evidence of substantial counterfeiting in the markets for records and tapes, foods, pharmaceuticals and an expanding range of industrial goods, including parts for automobiles and airplanes, fertilizers, pesticides, military hardware and medical devices. The growth in counterfeit-product trade has attracted the attention of the international trade community, including corporations, governments, and the international organizations and they are trying to look for ways and means to stop this illegal trade. I am very proud of Rwanda Revenue Authority and the Rwanda Police for endeavouring to make sure that these counterfeit products do not reach the shelves in our shops because I have read in this newspaper about impounded counterfeit goods. Anybody who is ready to buy anything should first make sure that whatever they is buying are original, and even though counterfeit goods are always cheap, they end up being very expensive in the long run because they don’t last. Be on the look out for these counterfeits so that when buying anything you are given what is worth your money. kayitesius@yahoo.com