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QNA
Doha
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) and the General Authority of Customs (GAC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the field of trademarks and protection of intellectual property, a press statement said on Tuesday.
The MoU aims to boost cooperation in the field of protection of intellectual property rights, develop electronic customs services, and combat illegal commercial practices.
The MoU was signed by Assistant Undersecretary for Commercial Affairs at the Ministry of Economy and Commerce, Yahya bin Saeed al Nuaimi, and GAC Assistant Chairman Ahmed bin Issa al Muhannadi, at the authority's headquarters, the statement said.
Nuaimi said the MoU complements the national role the MEC and the GAC play in supporting the economy and all the methods and mechanisms that help its protection and development.
He said,"The MoU comes within the ministry's continuous efforts to develop the protection of intellectual property rights and spreading it and achieve the desired benefit.
"The MoU is considered a continuation to the ministry's efforts to take required measures to combat commercial fraud and counterfeiting in coordination with specialized entities."
Nuaimi also affirmed the ministry's eagerness to follow global standards in the field of intellectual property rights protection and providing a comprehensive e-system of high quality and enable trademark owners.
Muhannadi said the GAC is keen to take all the measures on customs ports to protect intellectual property rights from piracy, as per global conventions and related legislations.
"It is also keen to take required measures to fight commercial fraud and counterfeit in coordination with specialized entities," he added.
The MoU includes establishing an electronic link between the ministry and the authority, enabling GAC employees to access the registered trademarks to verify the trademarks of the imported goods.
The MoU also enables the ministry's employees to identify the seized goods' cases that involve imitation or forgery of registered and protected trademarks in addition to pre-coordination with regard to meetings, international and regional seminars related to the topic of the MoU.
GAC is specialised in taking measures on customs ports to protect intellectual property rights from piracy in compliance with international conventions and related legislation.
On the other hand, the MEC specialises in applying the legislations related to the registration and protection of intellectual property rights in the country, including trademarks, data, trade names, industrial designs and geographical indications.
