Wallace Ruzvidzo — Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT will soon introduce deterrent penalties to deal with unscrupulous businesses that are selling underweight products, using misleading labels and illegal measuring instruments, the Office of the President and Cabinet has said.
In recent months, there has been an upsurge in the retail of basic commodities that are packaged fraudulently, with some being underweight and others with misleading labels.
Earlier, investigations by The Herald found 2kg packs of sugar weighing 1,7kg, 5kg packs of maize meal weighing a little over 2kg and three 2kg packets of a particular rice brand bought in an established retail outlet operating in central Harare, weighing between 1,69kg and 1,87kg.
Resultantly, President Mnangagwa directed regulatory agencies to amplify their presence and efficiency in order to effectively deal with the scourge of business malpractices and bring sanity to the economy.
Speaking during the launch of uniforms for the Trade Measures Department and handover of vehicles in the capital yesterday, Deputy Chief Secretary (Policy Analysis, Co-ordination and Development Planning) in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), Mr Willard Manungo, said errant behaviour by businesses would not go unchecked.
"Pursuant to the above, adequate measures should be put in place to facilitate quality and quantity control mostly in the informal sector which is still lagging behind.
"Thus, errant behaviour by some unprincipled businesspersons cannot go unchallenged and must be stopped before the practice becomes entrenched into our business practices and society.
"Consequently, deterrent penalties should be imposed against businesses facilitating the sale of underweight products, use of misleading labels and illegal measuring instruments.
"Distinguished guests, the directive from the President underscores the importance of work by the Ministry, in particular the Trade Measures Department and the trust placed in it to safeguard the interests of consumers and businesses alike," he said.
Mr Manungo said the Second Republic had geared itself to take decisive action that seeks to eliminate, once and for all, the dishonest practices that are bent on disadvantaging consumers.
"The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has taken a significant step in this regard, through rebranding and equipping the Trade Measures Department with tools of trade that will enhance operational capability.
"These measures are expected to boost the visibility of Trade Measures and, thereby, deter would-be offenders from acting unscrupulously. "With the shelf occupancy of locally manufactured goods being now around if not more 80 percent, it is critical that these goods be in the right quantities and right quality to ensure value for money for our citizenry, and also export markets, especially in view of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)," he said.
President Mnangagwa's support, said the Deputy Chief Secretary, had been a driving force in ensuring action.
"Furthermore, given the increasing role of SMEs in production of some of these goods, it is therefore important that standards for quantities and quality be always on check.
"His (President Mnangagwa) support and leadership have been instrumental in driving this initiative forward.
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank the President for his visionary directive that has made this transformation possible," said Mr Manungo.
He encouraged businesses to be compliant to the country's laid out rules and regulations.
"May I also remind you that today's developments, which strengthen the activities of the Trade Measures Department, are also critical in ensuring that our product packaging and measurement systems are in sync with international standards.
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"Resultantly, this enables our goods to seamlessly access the regional and international markets, especially with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in mind.
"In this regard, I urge all businesses to fully comply with all the legal stipulations that are enforced by inspectors from the Trade Measures Department," said the Deputy Chief Secretary.
Underweight products can arise at any point in the value chain before the product reaches the end user. Sometimes manufacturers in Zimbabwe or outside create underweight products at the start of the value chain. Sometimes it is those in the intermediate steps, sometimes it is a retailer or a black-market dealer.
But according to the Consumer Protection Act, it is a crime to sell products whose labels and trade descriptions are manipulated to mislead consumers.
