Online Reporter
Trust Freddy
FOR years, buying a bottle of lotion, a packet of sugar or a favourite household product has been a routine exercise.
Pick it up from the shelf, check the price and pay.
But that simple routine is becoming more complicated as counterfeiters increasingly turn their attention to familiar brands.
This is raising fresh concerns over what consumers are actually taking home from shops, markets and street vendors.
The latest warning from the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) is particularly unsettling.
Recent enforcement operations have uncovered counterfeit Nivea cosmetics and Huletts sugar, alongside fake Shield Sheen and Eversharp pens — brands that many consumers would ordinarily recognise and trust.
“Recent seizures of counterfeit Huletts sugar and Eversharp pens, as well as fake Nivea and Shield Sheen products show that even well-known brands are being targeted by counterfeiters,” CPC board chairperson Commissioner Respina Zinyanduko said in an interview with The Sunday Mail.
The warning means consumers can no longer rely on a familiar name or familiar-looking package alone when making purchases.
A product that looks almost identical to the one regularly bought from a supermarket could, in some cases, be counterfeit.
Fake products are reportedly finding their way into informal markets and street vending, with some vendors selling goods during the day and at night along busy streets and in crowded markets.
For consumers under pressure to stretch every dollar, suspiciously cheap prices can be particularly tempting.
But the bargain may come with another risk: the product may not be what it claims to be.
Commissioner Zinyanduko urged consumers to slow down and inspect products carefully before parting with their money.
She said shoppers should check expiry dates, supplier details and warning labels, while remaining cautious about unusually cheap or unbranded products.
Cooking oil, sugar, mealie meal, milk, kapenta and snacks sold loose or in unmarked packaging should receive particular scrutiny, she said.
Familiar household brands should also raise suspicion if they are being sold at unusually low prices or have packaging that appears slightly different from what consumers are accustomed to seeing.
That tiny difference in a label, colour, spelling or packaging may be easy to overlook during a hurried purchase.
Yet it could be the difference between buying a genuine product and taking home a counterfeit.
A wider retail problem
Counterfeiting is only one part of the consumer protection challenge confronting shoppers.
Figures from the CPC show that thousands of businesses have come under scrutiny since the beginning of the year.
Between January and July, the commission conducted 12 105 inspections, resulting in 1 615 prosecution notices and 925 compliance notices.
The largest number of prosecutions — 572 — involved the sale of expired goods.
Failure to display prices accounted for another 471 prosecutions, making it the second-largest offence recorded during the
period.
A further 26 businesses were cited for failing to issue receipts.
The figures paint a picture of consumers operating in a retail environment where the problems extend beyond counterfeit products.
A shopper may have difficulty knowing whether a product is genuine, whether it has expired, how much it should cost or whether a transaction has been properly recorded.
In some retail outlets operating from glass-partitioned shops, businesses are allegedly neither displaying prices nor issuing receipts, creating opportunities for consumers to be overcharged while making it difficult to prove what was paid.
For the ordinary shopper, the receipt remains one of the simplest forms of protection.
Without it, a consumer disputing a price or complaining about a defective or expired product may struggle to prove the transaction.
The bargain trap
Counterfeiters thrive on one of the oldest instincts in the marketplace — the desire to find a bargain.
A product carrying a familiar brand name, but selling for considerably less than consumers normally expect can be difficult to resist, particularly when household budgets are under pressure.
But the CPC says unusually low prices should be treated as a warning sign rather than an automatic bargain.
The same applies to products sold loose or without proper markings.
For food products in particular, consumers may have little information about their source, expiry date, manufacturer or storage conditions when they are removed from their original packaging.
The CPC is urging consumers to become more deliberate shoppers.
The consumer watchdog is asking shoppers to check the packaging and the expiry date; look for supplier information and assess warning labels.
And, where something appears suspicious, ask questions before buying.
Enforcement battle
The CPC says it is stepping up efforts to deal with the problem through cooperation with the police, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, city health departments, the Standards Association of Zimbabwe and manufacturers.
Six national enforcement blitzes have been conducted so far this year targeting counterfeit goods, expired products and improper labelling.
In July alone, 31 cases were referred to other regulators.
