Scania in collaboration with it's Swedish partner SKF has held a workshop for engineers, mechanics, people in the transport and mining sector. This is to sensitize them about the influx of counterfeit spare parts and the and the danger it possess to businesses and the society.

The meeting was held to draw the attention of stakeholders in the various sectors about the increasing rate of fake spare parts on the market.The participants were also alerted on the economic implication of purchasing counterfeit spare parts and the hundreds of lives which are lost through road accidents as a result of fixing fake auto parts in engines.

Addressing the gathering Tina Astrom, Director, SKF Brand Protection, stated that most counterfeited spare parts on the market cost more than the genuine ones and the people who end up buying them only pay for the packaging. She however stated that it takes a lot of expertise to spot the difference between a genuine and a counterfeited part.

Tina added that victims of counterfeit auto parts do not buy them deliberately, she urged stakeholders to be vigilant when buying auto parts and to deal only which authorised dealers approved by SKF (Power tel Ghana Ltd, Servaco PPS and Samlesbury Co. Ltd).

As part of interventions employed to remedy the crisis, the 'Authenticate App' was introduced to the participants to guide them when buying SKF products.

Frederick Morsing, Managing Director, Scania Ghana, mentioned that fixing pirated auto parts onto high purchase industrial vehicles reduces their lifespan and further advised them to desist from that.

The meeting was held at Scania's service center in Tema, Free Zones.