CCF officers inspect counterfeit goods in Banteay Meanchey province on July 24. CCF
In July, the Consumer Protection, Competition and Fraud Repression Directorate-General (CCF) confiscated more than six tonnes of defective, banned and expired goods across the country.
CCF director-general Phan Oun told The Post on August 16 that in the first seven months of this year, the CCF had collected more than nine tonnes of non-compliant food products from markets and warehouses and all of the items are now set to be torched.
“Confiscated goods are torched at burning ceremonies at the CCF’s branches in Phnom Penh and in the provinces,” he said.
Oun added that based on the quantities of irregular goods found in various markets in the past, the CCF observed that the number of these defective goods being sold has not decreased.
He said the main reason unsafe goods continue to be available on the market is that a small number of traders are selfish rather than concerned about consumer health, and the fines for violating the law on consumer protection were only put in place early last month.
However, through educational activities to raise awareness about food safety and especially how to choose safe food products to use, people have learned a lot about that issue and others such as personal hygiene.
“We hope that through the implementation of the law on consumer protection and ... especially the levying of fines by CCF officials ... dishonest acts or activities among businesses will be reduced to an acceptable level,” Oun said.
In July, investigating officials from the CCF who have been granted judicial police powers found 56 offences, mostly consisting of dishonest acts such as vendors shorting customers on their change for purchases and some selling counterfeit, expired or non-compliant goods.
According to the CCF, on August 13 officials from of its branch in Steung Treng and Banteay Meanchey provinces continued to inspect depots and markets in towns and districts across the two provinces.
Their inspections have turned up 29,833kg of expired goods, all of which were confiscated. The goods included syrups, fish sauces, soft drinks, salt and milk. The items will be torched and their owners will be fined.
