Ukrainian steel pipe and railway wheel producer Interpipe has announced that the global Steel Alliance Against Counterfeiting (SAAC), an industry initiative of 18 global steel product manufacturers committed to combating counterfeiting, has organized an open conference during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) held this week, gathering together notably engineering procurement construction (EPC) contractors, distributors, utilities and customs. SAAC has urged all actors in the market to join the fight against fake goods to protect their own citizens and their local economy.
During the conference, SAAC stated that over the course of two years it has been actively promoting the responsible use of steel products to safeguard lives and the environment. According to SAAC, a recent study on the use of counterfeit products in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) region showed that more than half of the industry has personally come across fake products during day-to-day operations and supports the tightening of the control of steel product imports from certain markets.
France-based pipe manufacturer Vallourec, one of the SAAC initiators, has also participated in the conference as a panelist speaker. Anaïs Eiden, Vallourec’s Group intellectual property legal manager, stated that the risks arising from counterfeiting are manifold and put the whole sector at risk; EPC contractors, manufacturers and final-customers end up deploying fake tubular products in critical installations such as oil refineries, pipelines and power plants. According to Mr. Eiden, accidents caused by sub-standard counterfeit tubular products can strongly impact the environment and endanger human lives and fatal incidents have already occurred. All involved stakeholders, from the private and the public sector, have a collective responsibility to take adequate measures to fight against the traffic and use of counterfeit pipes for the sake of safety, he added.
Meanwhile, Interpipe’s commercial director for the Middle East, Africa and Asia markets Andrey Burtsev stated that, as a manufacturer, Interpipe provides all available preventive and defensive measures. Accordingly, the company guarantees a high level of quality attested by international standards and annual audits, develops secured verification of products and supports customers with full-cycle service and check of products’ origin.