Legal action to be instituted against vendors of counterfeit products – Food and Drug Dept

May 22, 2014 News

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Deliberately exhibiting a known counterfeit product for sale could attract a fine as little as $6,500 or as much as $65,000 or even prison time, which from all indications may not be a harsh enough penalty to dissuade such activities. This is in light of the fact that the Government Analyst Food and Drug Department (GA-FDD) is continually plagued with reports of counterfeit products on the local market.
The GA-FDD has had reports of three counterfeit products on the local market for this year alone but legal action has not yet been instituted against the associated vendors. This was confirmed by the GA-FDD Director, Marlan Cole, who disclosed yesterday that the Department is looking to swiftly reverse this protracted trend.

Once counterfeit products are found on the local market, Cole said that they are first seized then destroyed, and the Food and Drug Act of 1971 allows the Department to further take legal action against the defaulting vendor(s).
He disclosed that first time defaulters can be fined between $6,500 and $35,000 or be subjected to imprisonment for a period between one and three months, while engaging in such acts subsequently could see them being fined between $32,000 and 65,000 or prison time of at least three months but not more than six months.
And it is likely that the vendors of counterfeit beauty products recently found on the market will face the brunt of the law since according to Cole, legal proceedings have already commenced.
The Department on Tuesday issued an alert to warn consumers that counterfeit beauty products including: Head and Shoulders Shampoo and Conditioner; Pantene Pro V Shampoo and Conditioner, and Oil of Olay aging creams, have been found on the local market.
The products, according to the GA-FDD Director, were all found for sale in the capital city and have been seized for the purpose of destruction.
The Department’s act follows on the heels of an official complaint lodged by distributor of the Procter and Gamble line of products, Ansa McAl Trading.
According to a statement issued by GA-FDD, the counterfeit products were differentiated from the authentic ones based on specific security and quality specifications that were provided by the distributor.
It was pointed out that in the case of the Head and Shoulders product for instance, there is a vast difference in the price of the original product and those that are counterfeited, the latter being as much as 70 per cent cheaper.
The approximate cost of the counterfeited Head and Shoulders is $320 while that of the original is $1,400. The Batch Number/Production Number and Expiry Date of the counterfeited product are on the bottom of the bottle, while the original product has this information on the back label which obtains for all Procter and Gamble products.
Added to this, the appearance of the counterfeited Head and Shoulders is diluted; light green in colour and has a faint odour, while that of the original is a thick white creamy mixture with a strong characteristic odour.
According to GA-FDD, laboratory analysis conducted by Procter and Gamble has confirmed that the active ingredient pyrithione zinc (ZPT) is absent from the counterfeited product.
And in the case of the Pantene Pro V product it was pointed out that the counterfeit one is being retailed at a cost of $320 while that of the original is $ 1,180. The cap of the counterfeited product does not have the engraved Pantene Logo and its net content reads 400 ml, while that of the original reads 12.6 fl oz or (357 ml).
Further, the counterfeited product gives details on how to use the product with no pictorial representation, while the original product gives details on the product use with the accompanying pictorial representation.
Meanwhile, the price for the counterfeited Olay TE moisturizer is approximately $700 while the original is $4,292. And the price for the counterfeited Olay TE dual kit is approximately $1,000 while the original is $5,104. On the front label of the counterfeited product, the phrase “Anti – aging fragrance free moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 15” is omitted but this is present on the original label.
The counterfeited product has no drug facts example active ingredients, intended use, warning or direction for use, but this is present on the original label.
Also the net content of the counterfeited Olay Total Effect is labelled 50g only, while that of the original is labelled 1.7 fl oz (50 ml) and 6.7 fl oz (192 ml) in accordance with labelling requirements.
The labels on all of the counterfeited products suggest that they were made in Malaysia.
Moreover, the GA-FDD is calling on consumers to pay keen attention to labels and instruction for use and to ensure those are in English. Also consumers are being asked to be more alert especially when there are vast differences in prices for the same product.
The Department is further warning consumers that there may be other counterfeited products on the market and is therefore urging that the general public be more vigilant in deciphering these.
Since the start of this year the Department has been tackling complaints of counterfeit food products including that of margarine and corn. “GA-FDD is in the process of initiating legal proceedings against defaulters (importers who deliberately release counterfeited products on our local market),” outlined the statement.
This is being done even as the GA-FDD intensifies its efforts to ensure that only efficacious products are available to consumers. According to Cole, the Department has started to pay closer attention even to the registration of drugs to ensure that those too are not counterfeited at an alarming rate.  “Steps are also being taken to strengthen the licensing process to ensure that only importers who are in complete compliance with the guidelines and requirements, as is legally required, are issued with Importing Licences,” said the GA-FDD statement.
Moreover, the Department is prepared to “continue to seize and remove from premises counterfeited items and work with importers to ensure that only legitimate and original products are released for sale on our local market.”

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