The name-address and registration number of the producer, production and use-by date and batch number of the product should be mandatory in the labeling.
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The Department of Commerce, Supply and Consumer Protection has issued a notice on this Chait 14 to regulate the trading of goods and services. The department has instructed that 'labelling' must be done before sending the goods to the market within Chait 20.
"Within Chait 20, if the product is produced in the country, the relevant producer and if the product is imported from abroad, the importer must carry out mandatory 'labeling' before sending it to the market for sale and distribution," the notice issued for producers, importers and businessmen states, "if the information is ignored or omitted or dismissed, action will be taken according to the prevailing law."
In line with the sense of the consumer's rights in Article 44 of the Constitution of Nepal and in accordance with the spirit and purpose of the Consumer Protection Act, 2075, the date of the notice to make labeling mandatory has expired on Wednesday. The department said that the monitoring will be intensified from Thursday and action will be taken if the instructions are not followed.
Mandatory 'labelling' on goods is a right guaranteed by the Consumer Protection Act. It is a provision in the Act. Foodstuffs, vehicles, steel, rods, sticks etc. should have mandatory labeling. If the MRP is not possible in steel Dandi, the dealers and sellers should keep the MRP by keeping the factory gate price,'' Director General Kumar Dahal said, 'We are going for full implementation from Thursday, 'labelling', MRP and everything should be mentioned in the item. If we find that the instructions are not followed, we will close the business.' Dahal said that in the case of
chocolates, relabeling and double pricing have been reported, if confirmed during monitoring, action will be taken. He said that emphasis will be placed on 'labelling' MRP in the first phase.
It is mentioned in the notification that the name-address and registration number of the producer, the production and consumption date of the product and the batch number must be mandatory in the 'labelling'. It is said that the maximum retail sale price including all types of taxes levied on the goods, the quality of the goods should also be mentioned if the goods are of fixed quality. During
monitoring, it will be inspected whether the same is mentioned. It is mentioned in the notification that awareness messages, pictures or symbols should be used if there is an adverse effect on human health. Under the second phase MRP will be analyzed. "We have tried to improve in a step-by-step manner, we will bring businessmen who go against the law to the legal realm," said Director General Dahal.
The notice issued by the department on Chait 14 regarding 'labelling' is not the first time. The Department of Commercial Supplies and Consumer Protection had published notices on 'labelling' on 9th and 21st of Baisakh last year. According to the Private Firm Registration Rules, 2034, the relevant office will cancel the registration of the private firm if labeling and maximum retail price are not determined, it was mentioned in the notification. But the implementation was flat. Before the department issued the notification, the customs department also issued a notification.
The Customs Department also tried to implement labeling in sub-section 4 of section 18 of the Economic Act 2080. For this, the department has already issued a notification regarding labeling on 22 June 2080 by including it in the economic bill. It is stated in the notice that it will be mandatory from July 1. But most businessmen have not done 'labelling'.
The vice president of Bagmati Federation of Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Durgaraj Shrestha, said that after the bill on labeling comes, it should be implemented from there. Due to the open border, he suspected that the achievement would be achieved by monitoring only the retail shops.
'Labeling' has been implemented on most of the goods imported from India. It mentions importer, market distributor name, address, email, website, EXIM code details. In the case of food items, it is possible, it has been implemented, Shrestha said, but in the case of items coming from third countries, labeling is difficult. Implementation has also been scarce. It seems that there is little implementation in lock-chabi, clothing, etc.'
Madhav Timilsina, president of the Consumer Rights Research Forum, claims that importers and sellers are doing arbitrariness due to lack of 'labelling'. "The question of quality is also the same, but who will take action?" He said, "Not only the federal government, but all the regulatory agencies need to coordinate and implement it." If labeling is fully implemented, the state will get tax, businessmen will have healthy competition and consumers will be able to buy the right product at the right price, he said. He said that if the provision in the Act is implemented, the consumer will be well informed.
