The Brand Owners Protection Group (BPG), a top organisation committed to combating counterfeit trade, is holding a training session to enhance the skills of customs inspection officials in detecting illegal merchandise.

The training, organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy – Abu Dhabi, will also impart skills in distinguishing illicit goods from authentic branded products.

The training session will be attended by up to 25 law enforcement officials from the Commercial Inspection Department from different branches of the Ministry of Economy.

Informative lectures will be given by leading intellectual property rights experts from various multinational companies including Nestlé, BMW, Nokia, Ford, Nike, Nissan, and HP.

“The success of the training session will be another achievement for the consumers as well as to our organisation in advancing the technical knowledge of law enforcement officials on properly detecting counterfeit goods and promptly report any detection to the brand owners in order to take the proper legal action in a proactive approach,” said Omar Shteiwi, chairman of the board at the BPG and regional intellectual property advisor for Nestlé Middle East.

The training session is in line the memorandum of understanding signed between the BPG and the Ministry of Economy in 2008, and is part of a series of workshops organised by the BPG in cooperation with various government bodies in the GCC.

The workshop is being today (May 25) at the Moevenpick Hotel in Dubai. – TradeArabia News Service