COUNTERFEIT GOODS FEATURES
Supply chain issues have seen substandard and counterfeit goods infiltrating the market
Rise in fakes
By Lesley Rudd Chief Executive, Electrical Safety First
T
he growing prevalence of counterfeit and substandard electrical products certainly won’t be news to readers of this article. Nor will it come as a surprise that,
increasingly, many of these items are sold via online platforms. Electrical Safety First undertakes a
range of research to inform our work raising public awareness of electrical safety and issues ranging from ‘rogue’
32 CABLEtalk JUNE/JULY 2021
traders to the dangers of buying fake electrical goods. But it is not just popular consumer electrical items which are affected. There are reports of fake – and substandard – plugs, fuses, circuit breakers and cables infiltrating the market, along with other basic electrical accessories we take for granted and use in a multitude of ways. Given the global and complex nature of the supply chain in the electrical component sector, it is the responsibility of everyone involved to be aware of the danger of non- compliant electrical products. The installer, being at the end of this chain, needs to be reasonably sure the supply chain is robust. The vast majority of electrical contractors ensure that they always buy from known, reputable manufacturers and retailers. However, when the flow of required materials is impacted, sometimes the use of irregular or unauthorised suppliers (the ‘grey’ market) may seem like a sensible option – but often isn’t. In the UK, the sale of non-compliant electrical installation products is considered a more significant issue than outright counterfeiting. Non-compliant products are not necessarily fake but
Customers unwittingly buying non-compliant electrical products can lead to disaster
they do not fulfil the essential safety requirements in product standards. Confirming that each item of electrical equipment purchased complies with these standards is made more problematic when they are bought from a range of different sources, with supply chains that are difficult or impossible to trace. There is also the related issue of
retailers ‘buying in’ material/products which they then brand as their own –
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
