ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has issued
Show Cause Notice to Al-Hilal Industries (Pvt) (Ltd) for prima facie
violation of Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010 pertaining to
deceptive marketing practices.
This Show Cause Notice, issued
by the Commission’s Director General Legal/Registrar, Mr. Ikram Ul Haq
Qureshi, in the aftermath of CCP taking notice of the marketing
campaign of Fresher Juice (available in Mango, Guavava, Apple, Falsa,
Peach and Strawberry flavours) wherein fresher juice had been marketed
as being “100 percent pure juice” suggesting that it contains
absolutely no additives.
The packaging of the product also
bears the claim “100% pure juice” in bold in the front while a perusal
of the back of the bottle indicates in fine print that it contains
additives in the form of sucrose and acidulent. Sucrose is a scientific
name for sugar and acidulent assists in the setting of gels and acts as
a preservative contradicting the claim that Fresher Juice is “100 %
pure”.
In accordance with principles of fair competition, when
an undertaking makes an absolute claim of the type 100 % pure they must
have evidence in the form of experiments/studies to support that claim.
Al-Hilal Industries was requested to provide evidence in the form of
supporting documents to substantiate their claim of 100 % pure, and the
evidence in support of the claim has not been provided despite ample
opportunity to do so.
Al-Hilal Industries has been issued the
show cause notice for distributing false and/or misleading information
lacking reasonable basis as to the characteristics/properties of the
product. In its show cause notice the CCP has stated that Al-Hilal
Industries was misleading end consumers in terms of clause (b)
sub-section (2) of Section 10 of the Act.
The company has been
asked to submit their written arguments within fourteen days and to
appear before the Bench on October 7, 2011. It is the responsibility
and obligation of the CCP under the Act to ensure free competition in
all spheres of commercial and economic activity and to protect
consumers from anti-competitive behavior and deceptive marketing
practices. Online
