FCCPC orders recall of products with misleading or incomplete labels

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has issued an order for manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers to recall consumer goods with misleading or incomplete labels. The directive was published in a public advisory by the commission's management and shared on their X handle on Tuesday. The FCCPC observed a growing number of consumer goods that did not meet the required standards and regulations for product labelling.

The commission cited issues such as products lacking production dates, expiry dates, batch numbers, manufacturer details, ingredient lists, allergen information, the country of origin, and other mandatory labelling information. The FCCPC has the authority, as per the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018, to ensure consumer safety by enforcing compliance with labelling requirements and standards set by regulatory bodies like the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.

The commission warned that deceptive, incomplete, or misleading labelling violates consumers' right to make informed purchasing decisions and could expose them to health, safety, and economic risks. Businesses involved in distributing or selling non-compliant products risk regulatory enforcement action. Consumers are advised to check product labels before purchase and avoid items with missing, illegible, altered, misrepresented, or poor-quality labels, as well as those with false claims or misleading information.

The FCCPC will continue to enhance market surveillance and enforcement efforts in collaboration with relevant authorities to ensure compliance and improve consumer protection.