Smart packaging of fake goods pays dividends
Smart packaging of fake goods pays dividends
By Atif KhanISLAMABAD: Fake cigarettes, beauty products and confectionary have flooded the town’s markets but they are packaged so perfectly that people end up taking them home after paying for the real ones.A trader of Raja Bazaar in Rawalpindi said that most of the fake articles were manufactured in the NWFP, Azad Kashmir and Upper Punjab and transported to Raja Bazaar, Nankari Bazaar and Bara Market for subsequent supply across the country including the capital city.Another wholesale dealer of the bazaar said that the NWFP, Azad Kashmir, Chakwal, Sargodha and Bahawalpur had around 23 factories manufacturing counterfeit cigarettes of popular brands.He said that a popular brand’s packet of 20 cigarettes cost a shopkeeper Rs 44 to Rs 45 but the same having counterfeit cigarettes was available between Rs 15 and Rs 20.Figures available with Daily Times show that the country consumes 78 billion cigarettes every year and 22 percent of this demand is met by illicit cigarette making sector. So, the national kitty suffers Rs 7.17 billion revenue loss annually.Ajab Khan, another wholesaler of Raja Bazaar, claimed that except for a few big stores in the capital, almost everyone sold a mix of fake and real stuff. He said that almost all the cigarettes, candies and beauty products sold at bus terminals, railway stations and other public places were fake.When asked, shopkeepers of Karachi Company and Aabpara markets knew about the presence of fake goods on the market.Mazhar Siraj of Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) said that the Federal Law of Consumer Protection Act, 1995, was didn’t cover fake products.He said that the Act had promised formation of Consumer Protection Council (CPC) but work in this respect had been awaited since 1995.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\06\07\story_7-6-2008_pg11_5
By Atif KhanISLAMABAD: Fake cigarettes, beauty products and confectionary have flooded the town’s markets but they are packaged so perfectly that people end up taking them home after paying for the real ones.A trader of Raja Bazaar in Rawalpindi said that most of the fake articles were manufactured in the NWFP, Azad Kashmir and Upper Punjab and transported to Raja Bazaar, Nankari Bazaar and Bara Market for subsequent supply across the country including the capital city.Another wholesale dealer of the bazaar said that the NWFP, Azad Kashmir, Chakwal, Sargodha and Bahawalpur had around 23 factories manufacturing counterfeit cigarettes of popular brands.He said that a popular brand’s packet of 20 cigarettes cost a shopkeeper Rs 44 to Rs 45 but the same having counterfeit cigarettes was available between Rs 15 and Rs 20.Figures available with Daily Times show that the country consumes 78 billion cigarettes every year and 22 percent of this demand is met by illicit cigarette making sector. So, the national kitty suffers Rs 7.17 billion revenue loss annually.Ajab Khan, another wholesaler of Raja Bazaar, claimed that except for a few big stores in the capital, almost everyone sold a mix of fake and real stuff. He said that almost all the cigarettes, candies and beauty products sold at bus terminals, railway stations and other public places were fake.When asked, shopkeepers of Karachi Company and Aabpara markets knew about the presence of fake goods on the market.Mazhar Siraj of Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) said that the Federal Law of Consumer Protection Act, 1995, was didn’t cover fake products.He said that the Act had promised formation of Consumer Protection Council (CPC) but work in this respect had been awaited since 1995.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\06\07\story_7-6-2008_pg11_5
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