By SYLVESTER MWALE –
Government will not tolerate the sale of expired products or all those without required information, Central Province Minister Davies Chisopa has said.
Mr Chisopa said as much as the government encouraged more business players to come on the market, they had an obligation of ensuring that they provided correct information about their products.
He was speaking in a speech read for him by assistant secretary Paul Mulola during the official opening of a one-day workshop for the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) which was organised to educate stakeholders on the commission’s operations.
Mr Chisopa said the Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 prohibited abuse of dominant positions as well as agreements between companies to ensure consumers received value for their money.
“I am alive to the fact that the Act also prohibits trade practices that compromise honest and fair dealing to the detriment of consumers.
“The business community has no excuse to engage in unfair and restrictive trading conduct as my office will not allow any conduct that is aimed at taking advantage of the unsuspecting consumers to go unpunished,” he said.
Kabwe district and Central Province as a whole has witnessed increased business activities in recent years which require regulations.
The CCPC realised the need to assert its authority by opening an office in the provincial capital last year which has been sensitising consumers on their rights.
CCPC executive director Chilufya Sampa said competition had controlled the prices of cement which was being sold at K80 even when the exchange rate was low.
Mr Sampa said it was shocking to note that Zambian sugar was cheaper in Rwanda when Zambians were paying more for the product locally.