The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has directed all consumer goods manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers to immediately withdraw any good that does not comply with its mandatory product labelling requirements.
In a public advisory published on its official X handle and signed by its management on Wednesday, the commission cited relevant provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018 to justify its latest directive.
The FCCPC stated that it had observed an increasing circulation, distribution and sale of consumer goods bearing incomplete, misleading or deceptive information and that such an abuse of consumers rights cannot be allowed to continue.
According to the commission, investigations by its market surveillance, routine inspections and quality assurance activities uncovered products without essential information such as production dates, expiry or best-before dates, batch numbers, manufacturer details, ingredient lists, allergen information and country of origin.
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It maintained that the FCCPA empowered it to promote consumer safety by ensuring compliance with applicable product labelling standards set by relevant regulatory authorities, including the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The Commission warned manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers that deceptive, incomplete or misleading labelling violated consumers’ right to adequate information required to make informed purchasing decisions and could expose them to health, safety and financial risks.
Based on this, it directed “all manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers to immediately review their inventories and withdraw from sale any consumer goods that do not comply with applicable labelling requirements”, threatening that businesses that continued to distribute or sell non-compliant products could face regulatory enforcement action.
Also, the commission urged consumers to carefully examine product labels before purchasing goods and avoid products with missing, illegible, altered or poor-quality labels, as well as be wary of products bearing false claims or other misleading information and to promptly report suspected cases of non-compliance through its official complaint channels.
The FCCPC restated its commitment to strengthening its nationwide market surveillance and enforcement activities in collaboration with relevant regulatory authorities to ensure compliance and protection of all consumers of goods in the country.
