The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has ordered manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers to stop selling consumer goods that fail to meet mandatory labelling rules, warning that any business that ignores the directive faces regulatory action. The commission gave the order in a public notice released recently, titled “Mandatory Labelling of Manufactured Goods for Consumer Information.”
According to the FCCPC, the notice follows checks carried out through market surveillance, routine inspections and quality assurance exercises. Those checks turned up products with misleading information on their packs, as well as goods missing basic labelling details altogether.
The commission said some of the affected products had no production date, no expiry or best-before date, no batch number, and no manufacturer details. Others lacked ingredient lists, allergen warnings, or the product’s country of origin, all information regulators say must appear on labels.
The FCCPC said its job under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act includes making sure businesses meet labelling standards set by bodies such as the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). It said proper labelling gives buyers the information they need before spending their money, while poor or missing labels can put people’s health, safety and pockets at risk.
The commission directed businesses to go through their stock right away and pull out any goods that don’t meet the labelling requirements, cautioning that those who keep selling non-compliant products risk being sanctioned.
It also advised shoppers to check labels closely before buying anything and to steer clear of products with labels that are missing, hard to read, tampered with, or otherwise unclear.
This is not the FCCPC’s first move against businesses over consumer protection breaches this year. In April, the commission shut down a supermarket in Guzape, Abuja, after inspectors found mismatched shelf and checkout counter prices, unpriced items, expired goods, poorly stored perishables and suspected fake products, including rice.
Separately, the commission has also been investigating possible price manipulation in Nigeria’s cement industry, questioning why retail prices remain high despite the country’s large limestone deposits and local production capacity.
