The Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) says at least 15 per cent of goods sold in many retail shops across Zimbabwe are counterfeit.
CPC chairperson Mthokozisi Nkosi said that these fake products are predominantly found in boutiques, supermarkets, and various other retail outlets. Said Nkosi (via The Sunday Mail):
The CPC’s compliance and inspection department plays a crucial role in identifying and addressing counterfeit goods.
By working closely with other relevant authorities, such as Zimra (Zimbabwe Revenue Authority), the Zimbabwe Republic Police and other agencies like Zera (Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority), the CPC has been able to prosecute numerous offenders.
At some stage, we discovered that we had at least 30 per cent of products in the market being counterfeits. The figure has since reduced to about 15 per cent currently.
Nkosi said the counterfeit products often come into the country as imported goods that are repackaged. He said:
You have got people repackaging or changing products, and then this results in underweight goods and stuff like that.
In other instances, some of these products are being imported into the country.
How they are doing that is something that we are interrogating regularly. Someone can just produce something and then they give a label that resembles a genuine product.
We are continuing to investigate where they are getting the labels. In some instances, we even have television sets and cell phones with reputable labels, yet they will be bogus.
Nkosi stated that the CPC has conducted nationwide investigations to identify and dismantle networks involved in the sale of counterfeit products, leading to the prosecution of both individuals and businesses engaged in these illegal activities.
The CPC is advocating for even stricter penalties for offenders to deter unscrupulous traders from participating in underhand dealings.
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