Riyadh shoe factory shut down for bogus labeling

Under the anti-commercial fraud program, authorities closed down a factory in Riyadh which was labeling locally-produced shoes as “Made in Italy.”
In an unannounced inspection by officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the authorities seized 3,000 pairs of shoes which were falsely labeled as Italian products.
The factory was located in the industrial zone on the Riyadh-Kharj road.
An official from the ministry said that during the inspection, inspectors found stamps and foreign logos which were added to the shoes to mislead consumers. During the raid, inspectors also confiscated 3,500 rubber shoe soles used in the manufacture of these products.
The discovery was made during the intensive inspection campaign of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry which targeted factories and warehouses in Riyadh to track down the manufacturers and distributors of counterfeit goods.
Ministry inspectors conducted the raids in cooperation with security officials.
Under its consumer protection program, the ministry has been conducting regular inspections on factories throughout the Kingdom to ensure that the right products are made in the facilities. The owner of the shoe factory and employees working there have been summoned and will be dealt with according to the degree of their involvement, the official said.
Following the seizure, the ministry stressed its commitment to protecting consumers, and pointed out that it will not tolerate anyone involved in illegal practices to manufacture fake goods at the risk of causing harm to the health and safety of consumers.
The ministry has a toll free telephone line, 1900, to enable consumers to make their complaints about any products sold in the open market.