(Copyright: Toner Printer Copier)
Following its announcement in January of this year that it would be publishing a Do Not Trade List of companies involved in “illegitimate” activities, HP has now revealed the list in a bid to help its partners avoid counterfeiters.
As ChannelPartnerInsight reports, the Do Not Trade List concerns the EMEA region, and among the names listed on it are those of four partners which HP describes as being involved in counterfeit or illegitimate trading.
The defunct Beta Distribution was the only UK business named on the list; another partner is based in Burkino Faso, while the remaining two are located in Germany.
HP’s list bans its partners from trading HP supplies, directly or indirectly, with any company featured on the list. Partners who do violate this prohibition may face “severe consequences”, among them expulsion from the OEM’s partner programme and rebate reclaims.
In a statement, HP explained, “HP is committed to protecting consumers and partners from counterfeiting and other forms of trade of HP supplies and takes steps to identify such activity.
“Efforts include working in close co-operation with local authorities, offering free delivery inspections to customers, performing regular channel partner protection audits, and attaching security labels that regionalise and serialise HP supplies.
“We now publish the HP Do Not Trade List of companies against which HP has evidence that they are involved in counterfeiting and/or other forms of illegitimate or improper trade of HP supplies. The aim of the Do Not Trade List is to help our partners legitimately source original HP supplies from trusted traders.”
Massimo Cadinu, Managing Director of Imcopex, one of the German companies named on the list, has revealed that his business is “on speaking terms with HP” and hopes to be “out of the list” within a couple of weeks.
He declared, “I am very positive. When I have something written in my hands I can show it, but the first step is to be speaking with them, which we are.”
As well as the Do Not Trade List, HP says it has also added a relevant section to the terms of its partner agreement, explaining partner obligations concerning the list.
