By MAIMBOLWA MULIKELELA –
THE Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) has burnt an assortment of goods worth more than K300,000 from January to March this year in a bid to rid the Zambian market of substandard and counterfeit products.
ZABS head marketing and public relations Hazel Zulu said the Bureau had incinerated goods worth K383, 010 between January and March 2015, in Lusaka alone.
Ms Zulu said the incinerated products include 482 counterfeit Shoe Polish purported to be kiwi shoe polish, valued at K26, 510.00, 336 rolls of failed Electric Cables valued at K223,000.00 and 89 bales of used under garments valued at K133,500.00.
Ms Zulu said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that this was as a result of the routine market surveillance and inspections that were conducted in Lusaka during the three-month interval to check levels of compliance on regulated products.
All these products were confiscated and incinerated at Lusaka’s Chunga Township dumpsite in the period under review.
ZABS was not happy about this report as it was detrimental to the development of the country but hoped that such measures would be a deterrent to those traders who did not want to follow the law.
“We are concerned about the health and safety of the consumers and would like to take this opportunity to alert consumers about the dangers of buying and using substandard products. Consumers should be quality conscious and take time to read product details for their own safety,” she said.
ZABS would like to send a warning to traders and manufacturers that selling of substandard products was a violation of the law and could result in them losing their permit to supply.
Manufacturers should partner with the Bureau to ensure that their products were not only of the right quality but also safe for public use.