Following a thorough 15-day market surveillance, authorities found several non-compliance by business owners in the central districts of Bumthang, Trongsa, and Zhemgang in December last year. The Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority, the Bhutan Food and Drug Authority, and the Bhutan Standards Bureau collaborated to conduct the surveillance. It is a part of the authority’s monthly redressal and surveillance exercise.
During the surveillance, of 108 grocery shops and bakeries in the three districts, it was seen that 63% of the surveyed businesses failed to meet minimum labelling requirements. The challenge of inadequate labelling was particularly observed in locally produced and repacked retail products.
In addition, it was found that 35 firms had been selling expired goods. The fines collected from these businesses totalled more than Nu 33,000.
The Bhutan Food and Drug Authority seized the expired goods immediately.
Moreover, 158 weighing scales from different businesses were calibrated and verified. 19 of these were found to have technical flaws that made them unfit for commercial usage.
The monitoring also revealed that there were no LPG cylinder weighing equipment available for fuel stations at Dangdung in Trongsa, and Pangbang in Zhemgang. Moreover, the Bhutan Standards Bureau stated that the weighing equipment at Zhemgang’s fuel station was not suitable for commercial use.
Safety issues were also brought up, especially in the fuel stations, where some were found without fire extinguishers and others were reported to have expired ones.
Business operators were asked to inform the authority after refilling fire extinguishers in the fuel stations and recalibrating or installing new weighing scales.
In another report, the authority stated that it facilitated refunds amounting to more than Nu 8,200 for consumers who had not received their goods after making advance payments.
Karma Samten Wangda
Edited by Kipchu
