Business warned against selling expired, underweight goods

THE Ministry of Industry and Commerce has warned that businesses selling expired and underweight products will face legal action due to the health risks posed to consumers.

Consumers have been voicing complaints on social media about underweight and counterfeit products.

In a statement, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, chief director of commerce and consumer affairs, Dr Douglas Runyowa, noted that the ministry has observed unethical practices in retail and wholesale stores nationwide during routine inspections and market surveillance.

These practices include selling underweight and expired products, improper packaging, lack of labelling and in some cases, unlicensed goods, all of which endanger consumers as they have not been approved or tested by health authorities.

“The non-compliance levels in most semi-formal shops have been very high in some instances to over 60 percent and this is untenable,” said Dr Runyowa.

“The ministry’s response strategy has been multi-pronged and we have generally adopted a three E’s plus two P’s approach whereby we are: engaging business operators, empowering consumers, educating individual companies, penalties and persecution.”

He added that business operators will be engaged through their respective organisations, from manufacturers to retailers, distributors and wholesalers, to comply with the existing regulations through ongoing discussions.

To empower consumers with information, Dr Runyowa also mentioned that they have translated the Consumer Protection Act into over six indigenous languages, including Braille, to ensure that the message is communicated to everyone in a language they comprehend.

“We are also undertaking awareness programs in various provinces and in this quarter alone, we have undertaken over 100 consumer awareness programs in all the provinces countrywide. We want consumers to know and demand their rights as they engage in business,” he said.

During its inspections, the ministry, according to Dr Runyowa, has penalised non-compliant businesses in various hotspots.

This month, Trade Measures inspected 5 104 products for weights and measurements and imposed 11 030 penalties on products that did not meet the standards.

“Equally, the Consumer Protection Commission has to date undertaken a total of 1 903 compliance checks and 691 businesses were issued with compliance notices,” said Dr Runyowa.

“A total of 1 309 businesses were prosecuted for various offences such as selling expired products. In addition, 688 businesses were also issued with compliance notices for non-display of product prices in local currency and most were referred to the Financial Intelligence Unit.”

Dr Runyowa said the ministry has also recalled expired products from the market in line with the Consumer Protection Act.

“We want to continuously call upon businesses to adhere to good ethics and shun indiscipline, which attracts punitive measures. Equally, consumers who are affected by any such practices must report these to the Consumer Protection Commission and to Trade Measures Department Officers located at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Offices,” said Dr Runyowa. —chronicle