Counterfeit SKF bearings seized by Trading Standards
Trading Standards officers have seized around 1tonne of counterfeit SKF bearings. The officers, accompanied by SKF officials, located the bearings on the premises of a non-authorised SKF bearing distributor in the UK.
The distributor has cooperated fully with the authorities, informing SKF that a further 1.5tonne of various bearing types, purchased on the open market, are currently being shipped to them.
SKF has carried out several similar operations across Europe, China and the US, seizing hundreds of tonnes of counterfeit bearings. Most recently, 15tonnes of counterfeit bearings were confiscated in Spain.
A spokesman from SKF said the problem is a growing global concern which increasingly affects all brands and all markets. "Together with other leading bearing manufacturers we are committed to fight both the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit products," said the spokesman. "This is beyond protecting the SKF brand. It is also about safeguarding the public from a potentially serious safety risk and from being cheated. The best way to safeguard product authenticity is sourcing SKF products through our authorised distributor network."
