Urgent customer service announcement from CBI-electric
Local MCB (miniature circuit breaker) and ELPU (earth leakage protection unit) manufacturer, CBI-electric, has reported that counterfeit copies of its products are being imported into South Africa for resale by unscrupulous distributors.
CBI says it became aware of the problem late in 2011 when product started being returned to it by resellers due to items being non-functional. The company summarily notified its authorised distributors and at the same time the authorities: included in the notifications were the National Regulator, SANS, DTI, SARS and acting council Spoor and Fisher. Following this a number of raids were conducted, eight thus far, and product has been confiscated from various entities. CBI-electric acted as expert witness to help identify the fake products.
Coen Esterhuizen, CBI-electric: low voltage corporate advisor: “We realised the seriousness of the situation when under test these fake products proved to be potentially dangerous to people and installations.” Esterhuizen confirms that confiscated product has subsequently been made available by customs to enable legal preparation for trial, but adds that CBI is not in a position at the moment to name the organisations responsible. “We are however determined to protect our customers and our brand through public awareness,” he stresses. “There are potential dangers to re-sellers, installers and end users. We urge people to take notice of this announcement and acquire product only from our authorised distributors and re-sellers.”
Esterhuizen emphasises that CBI-electric is currently making information available to the industry and authorities to enable easy identification of all counterfeit devices.
Since the raids, it has become evident that the parties responsible have gone ‘underground’ and fake product has been moved to neighbouring countries, a situation already under investigation by the local authorities. “Counterfeit products are an industry wide problem and are not unique to CBI,” says Esterhuizen. “Unfortunately, it is mostly the top international brands that are targeted.”
CBI is confident that the counterfeit product distribution was confined to the immediate vicinity of the facilities where the products were seized by the authorities. Indications are that a small amount of product did find its way into the market, but the bulk was identified and confiscated before it could be sold.
Anyone in any doubt should contact the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications or the company at +27 (0)11 928 2000.
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