Fighting against counterfeit electrical products

Counterfeit electrical products are infecting many important product categories in the global electrical market. Manufacturers, distributors, contractors and ultimately customers all face risks to safety, legal liability and profitability.

In the US, peak bodies representing key sectors of the electrical industry — National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) — have joined forces in an effort to bring the serious consequences of counterfeiting to the attention of every player in the US$130 billion [US] electrical contracting industry. The purpose of the collaboration is to ensure that an anti-counterfeit message is disseminated to the broadest audience of professionals in the distribution, specification, purchasing and installation of electrical products.

Part of this initiative includes the launch of the website www.counterfeitscankill.com, as an extension of the NECA and NAED member magazines Electrical Contractor and TED.

The website, endorsed by NAED, NECA, NEMA and Underwriters Laboratories (UL), advocates against the sale and installation of counterfeit electrical products and educates the channel of the dangers and liabilities associated with such products.

“NECA is fully committed to doing its part in stamping out this growing crime against our industry,” said John Grau, CEO NECA. “We consider this crime a serious issue that deserves serious and ongoing attention. We will continue to inform and educate electrical contractors about the problem, how to identify counterfeits and what role they must continue to play to stop the installation of these dangerous products.”

“Counterfeiting is one of the biggest challenges facing the electrical industry, becoming more and more prevalent with today’s global economy. We, as an industry — distributors, manufacturers, contractors, and electricians — must remain especially vigilant and aware of this danger,” said Tom Naber, President and CEO of NAED. “That’s why NAED has joined with NECA and NEMA in this anti-counterfeiting campaign. We want everyone to know the hazards that counterfeit products present and be aware of why it is so important to partner with reputable authorised distributors and reputable manufacturers who stand behind their products.”

Two years ago, the NEMA Board of Governors recognised the importance of this issue and asked NEMA to publicise the problem, work closely with law enforcement and advocate for public policies that enhanced penalties and bring greater resources to bear on the criminals.

“NEMA is pleased that over the past two years NAED, NECA and other industry organisations have reached out and proactively raised awareness of this important issue and alerted the supply channel of the steps they can take to eliminate the risk of unsafe, counterfeit electrical products,” said Evan Gaddis, NEMA President and CEO. “To my knowledge, this is one of the first collaborative efforts by an entire supply chain to address counterfeiting and piracy; and more efforts like this are needed across industry and commerce because counterfeiting is both a supply and demand problem.”