Algeria puts brakes on fake spare parts
2009-11-10
With deaths from car accidents soaring in Algeria, authorities are looking to curb the crashes caused by faulty spare parts by banning imports from anywhere but the most reliable sources.
By Walid Ramzi for Magharebia in Algiers – 10/11/09
 [Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images] Algeria hopes taking fake car parts off the market will improve traffic and reduce accidents. |
In a bid to protect drivers from potentially hazardous counterfeits, Algeria has banned imports of spare parts from anywhere other than the countries that manufacture the real goods.
The ban, which took effect on Monday (November 2nd), aims to protect Algerians from fake spare parts that authorities say are flooding the country and causing many car accidents.
"Spare parts not imported from the manufacturing countries will not be allowed into Algeria," Trade Minister El Hachemi Djaaboub said at an October 20th press conference.
"The newly introduced measure seeks to combat counterfeit spare parts, especially those imported from Asian countries," he added. "The decision excludes spare parts manufactured under license from manufacturing companies, provided that a [certificate of verification] is presented."
Trade Ministry data show that 80% of Algeria's authentic spare parts are imported from China, France, Italy, and South Korea, and that 2008 imports totalled 44.256 tonnes with an estimated price tag of $291 million. In the same year, customs officials seized 1.316 tonnes of knock-off parts, either mislabelled or unlabelled, worth $5.7 million.
Ordinary Algerians gave the new decision a mixed response, citing both appreciation for the protection and concerns over the cost of authentic car parts.
"Real spare parts are overpriced, and not everyone can afford them," said Othman, 43. "So some people are forced to buy fake or used spare parts on the black market. Banning imports of knock-offs will not necessarily stop [these goods] from finding their way into the Algerian market through parallel markets."
Mohamad, 52, agreed. "Imports of fake spare parts will switch from official channels to parallel markets," he said, adding that "counterfeit spare parts will be smuggled in by gangs who'll keep a good grip on such a profitable trade." He predicted that rocketing prices of real spare parts would actually drive vehicle owners to the black market in order to purchase more affordable knock-offs.
For their part, car companies, civil society organisations and consumer protection associations have voiced support for the ban.
"Importing fake spare parts is detrimental to us as manufacturers," said an official at one French car company. He conceded that real spare parts could be pricey, but added that "your life is too precious to risk by importing goods that don't meet safety standards".
On the other side of the debate, some importers are visibly displeased by the new measure, and are demanding that the ban be postponed to the start of 2010. They claim that the Ministry of Trade failed to inform them of the deadline for submitting the certificates that verify the authenticity of their imported spare parts, and that a delay is needed to get things back on track.
Among their particular concerns is the fact that they are expecting several shipments of parts, which they would like to see exempted from the new rules. If these shipments cannot receive a retroactive exemption, they say, it would constitute a violation of Trade Ministry obligations toward its partners.
But regardless of short-term concerns on the ground, analysts say the ban will improve Algeria's long-term economic prospects.
Economist Selim Abdel Rahman said the counterfeits issue has had a negative impact on Algeria's aspirations to join the WTO "because the EU insists on doing business with Algeria in accordance with strict rules pertaining to protecting intellectual property, given the high rates of piracy". However, the EU recently announced its support for Algeria's accession to the WTO.
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SIMO Posted 2009-11-11
Algeria needs to start by curbing the counterfeiting of countries, nationalities and refugees by ensuring the closure of the concentration camps in Tindouf and facilitating the return of the Sahrawi refugees to their mother country, Morocco. This “political” counterfeiting is a true obstacle to the creation of the Grand Maghreb and to the interests of the brother peoples of the region. This is what is most vital and most urgent for all of us.
wafekassil Posted 2009-11-11
Algeria has not restricted imports of fake spare parts. It has opened a wide door for bribes for that which previously was purchased legitimately. This law is just an express call for the increase in bribery. Everything in Algeria is fake and monopolised. There is nothing original. Even officials are a fake product. If Algerians were original, they wouldn't have done and do in Algeria, both the country and people, what they are doing including different forms of evil and corruption unprecedented in the world, {including] plundering public funds in incredible amounts. One individual has, for example, stolen from the public treasury in plain sight and with the knowledge of the state, 3,200 billion dinars, the equivalent of the salary of 60,000 workers for 40 years. Has such corruption ever occurred on Earth since the dawn of history?
Exiled Posted 2009-11-11
Banning non-oem car parts is a reaction to the pressure put on the Algerian government by the EU and the WTO. It is absolutely not in the interest of the Algerian people. 1. The concern on safety is an excuse, not a reason. I have never seen or heard of a car getting into an accident because a part is not working properly or performing as expected. The car would simply break down! The brakes might be an exception and even then it's such a simple system that seeing it cause an accident is as likely caused as by an overused original part that the vehicle owner cannot afford to replace. 2. Old cars can keep running for a very long time with home-made parts. In the South of Algeria I've seen trucks from the second world war, left as junk by both the Americans and the Germans that are still running today. The parts for these trucks are no longer manufactured and the poor but savvy owners manage to keep them running and get their farming work (mostly carrying goods over short distances) done. Another case in point is the Peugeot 404, nicknamed La Gazelle, even though it's no longer manufactured, many of them are still being used today by some of the most hardened long distance taxi drivers. They mostly make their own parts. 3. The car parts from oem's are so expensive, only the well-offs could afford them. Pricing is key here. It is the responsibility of the car manufacturers to find ways to prevent non-oem car parts to make it to the market in the first place. They should pressure their own governments to crack down on them, not the Algerian government. I bet many of the car manufacturers themselves buy their own parts from them. Such measures only stifle creativity, self-dependency, and ingenuity.
Farah Mokhtar Posted 2009-11-11
I am a mechanic. I often go to Algeria to consult vendors of spare parts or, as they call them, “Taiwan parts”. Tons of parts are still stocked in stores selling spare parts, and these stores continue to sell this stock in ways that are very difficult to control. All the same, they succeed in finding their niche, given cost of the real parts. On the other hand, in my opinion, we need to require that wholesale suppliers provide warranties stamped on the parts by the brand-name manufacturer with the same regulations as the European countries, and we need to do the same with parts manufactured in Japan or Korea. The task is not easy, but we must manage it with a lot of rigour and zero tolerance. This scourge nearly arrived in France, but it was dealt with and mastered thanks to the rigorous regulations concerning the parts’ safety. I give all of my encouragement to these people, who decided to fight against the fake automobile parts. –Mr Farah
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