Tanzania
continues to grapple with increased trade in counterfeit goods with
more than half of its imported goods being fakes, a new study shows.
A
research commissioned by the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI)
found that at least 50 per cent of goods used in the country including
drugs, foods, and construction materials are fake.
In
his presentation, Prof Honest Ngowi of the Dar es Salaam-based Mzumbe
University campus said that the findings resulted from interviewing 250
consumers and 47 manufacturers countrywide.
The
acting CTI chairman, Mr Evasist Maembe, said at a forum that the
business lobby group commissioned the research due to an "alarming"
increase in counterfeit goods, especially imported items from China,
Bangladesh, Vietnam, Singapore, Kenya, South Africa and others.
According
to the study, porous borders are to blame for imported counterfeits, as
well as the existence of domestically produced fake goods and lack of
levelled playing field in the market.
Prof
Ngowi said among the reasons for the rampant fake commodities include
wrong view of free market economy, organised counterfeit dealers and
poverty which encourages preference for the low-priced fake goods.
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