UAE removed from US intellectual property watchlist

UAE removed from US intellectual property watchlist

The US has removed the United Arab Emirates from its intellectual property watchlist after the Gulf country took steps to combat the trade of counterfeit goods, according to state news agency WAM.

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Efforts to tackle the sale of counterfeit goods at Ajman China Mall and increased efforts by Dubai Customs to stop the import of fake products led to the UAE's status being upgraded on the Office of the United States Trade Representative's (USTR) Special 301 Report for 2021.

The UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention also resolved intellectual property concerns regarding pharmaceutical products, according to WAM.

The country's Federal Customs department also began publishing annual intellectual property enforcement statistics, increasing transparency.

Publicly available statistics for 2019 showed that authorities made 63 seizures, confiscating 168,251 counterfeit items.

A growth in ecommerce led to more seizures from mail shipments, which accounted for 31 percent of all seizures in 2019 according to the Federal Customs Authority.

Fake handbags and wallets accounted for 29.85 percent of seizures in 2019, and 11.94 percent of seized goods were counterfeit mobile phones and accessories.

The majority (29.8 percent) of counterfeit goods seized in 2019 came from the Philippines.

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