Counterfeit product will kill local entrepreneurs – GMSA

Jun 10, 2014 News

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One of the country’s premier private sector bodies has expressed alarm over the level of counterfeit products hitting the local markets.
According to the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA), the complaints have been pouring in from its members. This points to a fast growing epidemic of counterfeit products being sold to unsuspecting Guyanese who are being gulled by cheaper prices.
Food products including Golden Cream margarine, peanut butter, canned goods bearing the Del Monte brand, and beauty and hygienic products have been forged.

“Even specialized industrial equipment, spare parts, machinery and tools are being counterfeited and sold in Guyana, some bearing the brand plates of the reputable international manufacturers whose products are legally distributed in Guyana by carefully screened, well-established local companies.”
GMSA yesterday explained that counterfeit products fail to meet all safety requirements and across-the-board, they expose consumers and end users to personal injury and health-related dangers.
“The food products, when they are returned by consumers seeking replacements or repairs, are often found to be expired, and contain ingredients that do not meet the standards set by the authentic local and foreign manufacturers.”
According to GMSA, authorized Guyanese distributors revealed that they have been battling this problem for more than two years.
“Their principals in North America and Europe have since instituted legal proceedings against a few illegal importers in Guyana.  The Government Analyst Food and Drugs Department (GAFDD) as well as the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) have become involved in recent months and have destroyed products seized from local supermarkets, grocery shops and other retailers.”
The association said that it was found that stocks of expired Golden Cream Margarine were packaged in differently labelled containers which did not originate from Sterling Products Ltd.
“One authorized distributor of food imports was able to identify a major supplier of counterfeit canned foods located in Ruimveldt, Georgetown and made an initial legal approach.
Another distributor of industrial equipment, including the STIHL line of products, actually witnessed name plates being changed on some counterfeited products after the company, Farfan & Mendes, lodged a complaint.”
According to GMSA, Farfan and Mendes, known for its equipment, said that it discovered items on sale that were very similar to the STIHL products (in appearance only) but were branded SPILL.
“Upon closer examination, they discovered that the counterfeit products were constructed with inferior materials which are most likely to cause personal injury to users. As if the dangers are not enough, the counterfeit products are priced to undersell the authentic, long established brands which the manufacturers spent decades building and perfecting.
“Their most pressing concern is that the counterfeit products will erode consumer confidence in their own after they (consumers) would have discovered that their purchases could not be repaired or replaced since they were not under the authentic manufacturers’ warranties.”
GMSA said that it has been observing interventions by the GAFDD and the GNBS. “We have to take this opportunity to once again urge the administration to adequately resource these two departments to allow them to police the local marketplace more thoroughly, to find and destroy counterfeit products and uncustomed goods that were smuggled across our long, porous borders.”
GMSA has also been working with partners in Canada and the Caribbean (Caribbean Export) to promote the manufacture of Guyanese products that meet high international quality standards.
“This issue of inferior counterfeit products flooding the local market constitutes unfair competition and product dumping.  It has the potential to erode the quality gains already made, particularly by our micro and small scale entrepreneurs, and ultimately, it could cause long lasting damage to the viability of Guyana’s accredited distributors.”
GMSA also indicated that it will be engaging the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) to address complaints of counterfeit importers under-invoicing their shipments. As a matter of fact, the association will be requesting thorough screening applied to outgoing containers be similarly applied to incoming cargo which would help to identify the importers of counterfeit products.
“It is easy to surmise that Guyanese have fallen victim to a much wider range of counterfeit products, including prescription drugs and other health and beauty products outside the ambit of Ansa McAl and Proctor and Gamble.
“We believe that this is the time for every business support organisation, every regulatory and social grouping (NGO) to confront this scourge and bring it to an end.  The ramifications of it being allowed to continue include a severe contraction of entrepreneurship in Guyana.”
Recently, one of the country’s major distributing companies, Ansa Mc Al, disclosed that Ariel Soap Powder, Lucozade Energy Drink, Always Maxi Pads and Pringles have been added to the list of counterfeited items.
Last month, Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GAFDD) issued an alert to warn consumers about a line of counterfeit beauty products that included Head and Shoulders Shampoo and Conditioner, Pantene Pro- V Shampoo and Conditioner, and Oil of Olay anti aging creams.

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