News Making and selling counterfeit products is a sin. That decision has been taken by the senior Islamic clergy in Saudi Arabia, who have recently issued a “fatwa” or religious decree. Published in all the daily newspapers of the Kingdom on 7 March, this stipulates that the “sale of imitations under the guise of originals, their manufacture or distribution are prohibited because these practices mislead Moslems and lie to them”.
The decree gives no precise example of counterfeiting but, according to the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, trafficking in counterfeit products is costing the country one billion riyals (470 million francs) each year.
March 14, 2001