Kenya sets up Anti-counterfeit agency

The Government has set up an agency to fight trade in substandard and counterfeit goods.

The Anti Counterfeit Agency will investigate, arrest and prosecute individuals suspected of involvement in the illicit trade, permanent secretary ministry of Industrialisation Prof John Lonyangapuo said on Tuesday.

“We lose money to the tune of Sh40 billion in unpaid taxes through trade in counterfeit and substandard goods and this is hurting the economy and manufacturers. We cannot allow a few individuals to continue doing this,” Prof Lonyangapuo told journalists at the Mombasa port.

He said the agency’s board has already been inaugurated and it is in the process of recruiting the chief executive officer.

Manufacturers have in the recent past blamed the government for failing to institute a mechanism for fighting the vice that has an estimated annual turnover over Sh7.2 billion, even after Parliament passed the Anti Counterfeit Bill last year.

Those who have suffered losses due to this trade include cigarette, ball point pens and dry battery manufacturers.

According to Mr Gary Fagan, managing director BAT Kenya, illicit business accounts for more than Sh2 billion in the cigarette manufacturing sector alone, where between 12-15 per cent of cigarettes in the Kenyan market are counterfeit.

In an earlier interview, battery maker Eveready’s managing director, Mr Steve Smith, said his company loses up to Sh750 million annually to the trade while the government loses up to Sh2 billion in revenue in the sector.