By KENNEDY MUPESENI –
AS the Zambia Agricultural and Commercial Show opens its gates to the public today, the Competition and Consumer Protection (CCPC) has urged consumers to be alert and report cases of unfair trading during the event.
The 90th Agriculture and Commercial Show will run from today, July 27, to Monday next week.
In a statement, CCPC public relations officer Hanford Chaaba urged traders against trading in expired or displaying improperly labelled products for sale.
“Members of the public visiting the show need to be alert because some traders take advantage of this period to exhibit and later offload for sale products or services which do not meet the minimum requirement in terms of their intended purpose,” Mr Chaaba said.
During this period, he said, some traders would opt to sell expired products, products not properly labelled, or even labelled in languages that are foreign other than English or any Zambian local language.
“Others maybe engaging in various unfair trading practices such as misleading conduct just to sell and this is what we are concerned about, especially that companies found during the show are merely exhibiting,” he said.
He said there was need for consumers to demand receipts for easier follow-up in case of any unfair trading.
“It is important to get receipts because they contain critical information such as contact details like physical location and address of the trader which will make it easy to follow up the traders even after the show period.
“For showgoers who want to access our services in form of enquiries and even those who have various complaints, they can visit our stand and get the necessary help from us,” Mr Chaaba said.