The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) in collaboration with seven Local Authorities in Muchinga Province has seized assorted goods collectively worth K6, 114 following separate joint inspection operations conducted in over 82 trading places in seven districts of the Province.
In a statement issued to Money FM News by CCPC Public Relations Officer Namukolo Kasumpa the seized items included biscuits, carbonated drinks, baby cereals, juices, and cosmetics all of which did not meet the minimum required standard for them to be sold to consumers as some products were expired and others had no expiry dates while others had broken seals and insufficient labeling.
Ms Kasumpa said some products were poorly packaged which contravened consumer protection provisions as outlined in the Food and Drugs Act Cap 303 of the laws of Zambia Act as well as the Competition and Consumer Protection Act No. 24 of 2010.
She said the seizure of the assorted goods was conducted during a sensitization and advocacy tour of the aforementioned Province which included random inspections of trading places in the districts with the view of ascertaining the traders’ compliance levels of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) No 24 of 2010, specifically with regards to product labelling, display of disclaimers and product safety.
Ms Kasumpa said according to Muchinga Province Investigator, Bridgnot Muzyamba the random inspection of trading places was an eye opener for most traders whose goods were seized as they did not take their obligations seriously of employing and implementing effective stock rotation schedules to ensure that they monitor the inflow and outflow of their products so that products were sold on first in first out basis.
She noted that the traders consistently in all inspected districts complained that suppliers and distributors supplied them with unsuitable products which had exceeded or were close to reaching their shelf life a conduct that was illegal and unacceptable.
She has since commended Chama District for having few expired products thereby being most compliant to the CCPA among the seven districts inspected.
She has since advised traders to abide by the law and desist from engaging in unfair trading practices or any conduct that puts the consumer at risk. Business entities or individual traders are expected to be responsible enough to provide quality and safe products to consumers across the country failure to which the law would take its course.
The Local Authorities involved in the operations were Mafinga, Chama, Shiwangandu, Lavushimanda, Kanchibiya and Mpika Districts Councils and Chinsali Municipal Council. The sensitization and advocacy tour was conducted from the 4th to the 15th of July 2019.