URSB destroys counterfeit tonner and cartridges worth Shs7.2b

Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) has destroyed five metric tons of counterfeit tonner and cartridges worth Shs7.2bn.

The items were seized from unscrupulous computer accessory dealers operating at different disguised stores at Nasser Road, Nkrumah Road and Bugolobi in Kampala, by URSB’s Intellectual Property Enforcement Team.

Alex Tumuhairwe, the Head of Operations and Enforcement at the URBS says more than 60 metric tons of counterfeit tonner and HP cartridges were seized.

“Majority of the counterfeit items were seized from particular locations at Bugolobi and Nasser road and some of the dealers have already been prosecuted and convicted under the intellectual property law,” Tumuhairwe says.
He adds that court cleared the destruction process successfully prosecuting and convicting suspects.

“The products are a look alike and can only be identified by experts, therefore dealers take advantage of the unsuspecting customers to sell the counterfeit products,” he says.

Currently disposed of at the National Environment Authority off-site disposal ground in Nakasongola District, the counterfeit computer accessories were seized from the dealers between January 2019 and June 2019.

Mr Peter Masinde a consultant with Trans-World Protection Group, an international company working with URBS in tracking and identifying the counterfeit products says the dealers disguise the products and re-package them at their stores before sending them to the market.

“The business is lucrative and very sophisticated as many of the dealers are willing to part with large amounts of money to compromise the products. We call for commitment from all the concerned parties including the customers to help identify the unscrupulous dealers. The re-packaged products look genuine on the outside look and can only be detected by people with expert knowledge regarding the computer accessories,” Masinde says.