News At the request of the Dubai authorities the FH organised a training seminar for customs officers. The chief surprise upon arrival was to find that the inspectors were not men, but women!
For a number of years the FH has maintained an excellent level of cooperation with the Dubai police authorities, as borne out by highly satisfying results obtained in 2012 in relation to seizures and operations on markets. For all sorts of reasons, cooperation with customs authorities is more difficult to secure. It is however an essential piece on the chessboard in the fight against counterfeiting. It is always more worthwhile and efficient to seize litigious goods at the point of entry onto the territory, during customs inspections, than to hunt them down on street markets. One could easily imagine that counterfeit products systematically enter the country as contraband. The reality is quite different, since in the vast majority of cases fake watches follow the same customs clearance process as genuine products, the difference being that counterfeiters make false declarations on customs documents (toys, calculators, etc).
With regard to this problem, one thing must always be borne in mind: despite everything the main purpose of customs clearance is to levy legal taxes. This objective aside, inspections are considered an obstacle to commerce and therefore contrary to international regulations in force. In addition, customs officers are confronted daily by a paradoxical requirement: while there are more and more goods to inspect, there is less and less time in which to do so. The equation therefore is very simple: how can the authenticity of watches be checked without mobilising additional resources, either in terms of time or manpower? The obvious answer can be summed up in two words: training and cooperation. Officers responsible for inspections must be able to rely on clear and precise information. In addition, they must be able to count on the full and unswerving cooperation of rights holders.
The FH actively participates in a large number of customs training seminars in Europe and Asia. Despite many discreet requests, until now our overtures to Dubai remained unanswered. It was with some surprise therefore that early this year the FH received a request from the Dubai authorities to organise a training seminar. A small brigade of around thirty specialist inspectors was assembled. In the event, the officers delegated for the training were all female: an unusual and interesting departure. Could it be that these women were more sensitized to luxury products? At all events they proved to be a highly attentive and motivated audience. As they prepare to put their new skills to the test, they know that the FH can now be relied on to provide assistance when needed.
February 22, 2013
