In a bid to fight the increasing cases of duplication of Uganda Bureau of Standards (UNBS) certificates and fake products in the market ,the minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Hon. Amelia Kyambadde has warned the members of the business fraternity to refrain from dealing in fake products.

While addressing the media at her office in Kampala, Kyambadde warned the traders against forging UNBS certificates.

She said the increasing cases of duplication of products and forging the UNBS certificate will not only affect members of the business fraternity but also the country at large.

She explained that some people are greedy for money and once they see the fast moving products in the market, they counterfeit them.

She revealed that the act of duplicating certificates and selling fake products in the market is illegal and anyone caught involved in such acts shall be prosecuted in the courts of law.

She said their trading licenses will also be cancelled and will be tasked to pay heavy penalty.

Kyambadde said fake and counterfeit products are a serious problem of Uganda which makes the economy to lose more money.

She urged Ugandans to make sure that all the certified products meet required standards in terms of measures, thickness and strength.

“Fortunately the UNBS organisation has already started arresting those culprits so I urge all Ugandans who are fraudulently utilising UNBS certificates to cease immediately otherwise their business will be closed and even them,they will be punished,” she said.

This followed the cases of duplication of UNBS certificates and products in Kassanda district where three people were apprehended for engaging in duplicating products of some companies.