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Tanzania and Kenya are in unison in combating the menace of counterfeit products flowing into their countries as part of wider efforts to protect traders and investors dealing in genuine goods.
Tanzania and Kenya are in unison in combating the menace of counterfeit products flowing into their countries as part of wider efforts to protect traders and investors dealing in genuine goods. The Tanzania Fair Competition Commission (FCC) seized counterfeit products worth Sh15 billion during the last financial year. In Kenya, the value of the illicit trade stood at Ksh800 billion in 2020, with counterfeit products accounting for Ksh100 billion, according to Kenya’s Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA).
It is on those grounds that the two nations agreed on the need to make joint efforts to address this grave challenge that is a threat to investors and the health of consumers. Both countries have determined to cooperate in strategic, legal, and execution areas.
In the wake of increased counterfeit goods in the Kenyan market, Kenya in January launched a recordation system that is meant to curb counterfeit products at the source so that the same does not enter the market. Recordation requires all owners importing goods into Kenya to notify the anti-counterfeit authority of the particulars of such goods so that they could be inspected to see whether they met standards or not. Tanzania is seeking to emulate Kenya in that method of curbing counterfeit products but now assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the system before adopting the same.
The Tanzania Fair Competition Commission (FCC) director general William Urio stated that Tanzania wants to learn from Kenya how the system operates, its benefits, and challenges so that they can come up with an improved version. He further stated that the two governments wanted to see trade between them grow even further on a level playing field.
Tanzania-Kenya bilateral trade hit $905.5 million (about Sh2.1 trillion) for January to November 2021, according to the Central Bank of Kenya. Under the period of review, Kenya’s imports from Tanzania stood at $501 million (about Sh1.2 trillion), and exports at $403.9 million (about Sh929 billion). Both must scale up their fights against counterfeit products to protect their image in the eyes of investors and spur bilateral trade volume so that people could enjoy the diverse market in the East African Community (EAC), which is home to 280 million citizens.
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However, until 2017, research commissioned by the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI), established that at least 50 percent of goods consumed in the country, including drugs, foods, construction materials, and other working tools, were counterfeit. The then CTI chairman, Evasist Maembe, stated that the study was commissioned because the problem of fake goods is alarming, especially imported items from Kenya, China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Singapore, South Africa, and others.
