Record breaking amount of fake cosmetics seized in Dubai, despite rise in consumer trust

Along with the police, the department uncovered the fake shampoos, soaps and skin creams at a manufacturing facility and attached warehouse in the Al Khawaneej area of Dubai and have taken the owner of the site into custody.

According to Ibrahim Behzad, senior manager of intellectual property at the DED this seizure is regarded as "the biggest operation with regard to body care products and cosmetics.​"

He added that the team had worked for more than 12 hours to evacuate the factory and the warehouse of the cosmetics. 

The seizure comes in line with the Department of Combating Economic Crimes’ efforts to protect intellectual property within the sector of commercial control and consumer protection.

Despite this, consumer confidence rises..​

The news comes as somewhat of a surprise considering market analysts witnessed an improvement in all consumer confidence sub-indices in the U.A.E.

According to the Nielsen Global Survey of Consumer Confidence and Spending for the fourth quarter of 2013, the country ranked first in Middle East and North Africa and fifth globally. 

Consumers were found to be optimistic about the decisions on price control mechanisms and the effective role the Department of Consumer Protection played at local and federal levels, to control fraudulent goods and organise anti-commercial fraud exhibitions.

This confidence came on the back of the index revealing the Department of Economic Development to have confiscated 139,000 articles of counterfeit goods between January and November 2013, and filed 89 charges against sellers.

'2013 was a more optimistic year for shoppers'​

During 2013, some logical declines in the value of the general index occurred and affected its normal course but by comparing the index performance in 2013 to 2012, it was noticed that consumers were more optimistic in 2013 due to many factors.

This was particularly the rise in future expectations by 14 percent in 2013, as optimism about employment opportunities increased, along with optimism about economic conditions, and positive expectations of individual financial conditions.