The Brand Owners Protection Group (BPG), the largest non-profit organisation in the Gulf committed to combating counterfeit trade, recently held the second election of the group’s board members.

The new board includes brand owners Nokia, Nestlé, BAT, Nissan and Ford Motor Company.

The election also named a set of alternate board members: Beiersdorf, Daimler and 3M, while, Al Tamimi & Company and Rouss have been named service providers on the board.

The new board will reconvene in another meeting later in January to determine who will be the chairman of the BPG for the next year.

"After five years of leading the BPG, I admit that it has indeed been a great pleasure for me personally to work closely with all stake holders from the public sector, such as the Ministry of Economy, Customs, Departments of Economic Development, and consumer protection administrations) and also with the private sector, including brand owners, legal firms and service providers," said Omar Shteiwi, first chairman of the BPG.

“Other brand owners will take on the challenges of the coming years. I am proud of the BPG, its objectives, its members, and everything it has accomplished.”

“I still remember the old days when there were six founding members and when I look at the BPG and see 37 members today, I consider the organisation is a real and major success in protecting Intellectual Property Rights, continuing to combat counterfeit trade and protect the interests of our loyal consumers. The BPG will certainly continue fostering its existing relationships with law enforcement authorities in the GCC and forging new ones to take our battle against counterfeit trade to the next level," Shteiwi added. – TradeArabia News Service