The Consumer Protection Council (CPC) yesterday
came down hard on Coca-Cola and the Nigerian Bottling Company, (NBC) with a
threat of severe sanctions after it found the companies wanting on product
quality.
“Pursuant to a consumer complaint received by the
CPC regarding two half-empty cans of Sprite, products manufactured by NBC under
the licence and authority of Coca Cola, the Council in accordance with its Act,
investigated the complaint and found among other things, that the cans of
Sprite were defective and had health and safety implications for consumers,”
Dupe Atoki, Director-General, CPC, said yesterday in Lagos.
Coca- Cola promptly issued a statement rebuffing
the CPC claim. In their reaction, the company expressed commitment to quality
standards, adding however that information regarding high quality standards
were made available to the council, saying “It is regrettable that the
Council’s conclusions and recommendations do not appear to have acknowledged
the information.
“As responsible organizations, NBC and CCNL take
all matters relating to products very seriously and remain committed to
maintaining the highest international quality management and food safety
standards and certifications. Because consumers are at the heart of everything
we do, both organizations also take a responsive approach towards satisfying
customers and consumers,” according to a release jointly signed by Adeyanju
Olomola and Clem Ugorji of NBC and Coca-Cola respectively.
Atoki, whose power is derived from the Council’s
Act cap 25, LFN 2004 admonished the global company to ensure that its products
are the same in content and quality worldwide, adding that she is committed to
ensuring that consumers get value for their money.
CPC said that while NBC cooperated with the
council in the investigation, CocaCola Nigeria limited, in contravention of
applicable law, elected to adopt a rather hostile and flagrant approach to the
council by failing or neglecting to attend or produce documents in its
possession.
The CPC chief said that they are taking sectoral
approach to ensuring standards compliance, adding that the Council is meeting
with the chief executives of telecommunications concerns over poor quality of
service, adding that the council is not looking at challenges of doing
businesses as often being advanced by the companies, but consumers taking value
for any money spent.
CPC, under the Act is expected to provide speedy
redress to consumers’ complaints, remove hazardous products from the market,
cause an offending company to protect, compensate and provide relief to injured
consumers, ban the sale of products which do not comply with safety or health
regulations, undertake investigation of consumer abuse and prosecute violators
of all enactments for protecting consumers, among others.
The director-general said that the panel that was
set up, after five hearings, held between September 2013 and February, 2014
substantiated the allegation of product defect and violation of consumer
protection Council Act.
She added that though the investigation was
premised on two half filled cans of sprite, it led to a plethora of findings,
among which included the fact that the company does not have a detailed written
shelf life policy for dealing with expired products; that its grievance
resolution policy does not have cover instances where the consumer suffers
physical injury from consumption or compensation in instances where replacement
will be inadequate.
Also, that the company’s supply chain management
does not extend to retailers who the bulk of Nigerian consumers buy their
products from and the company’s traceability policy fails to effectively
address the real purpose, as the company often relies on information as to
place of purchase of the product.
Consequently, she said that the company will
henceforth subject their manufacturing process to the Council’s inspection for
a period of 12 months to ensure compliance with safely standards and
regulations, formulate and make available to the Council, a shelf life policy
within 90 days to facilitate the removal of expired products from the market.
It will also review within 90 days, its Grievance
Resolution policy to address compensation for injuries, or compensation, in
instances where the replacement will be inadequate, review their supply chain
management policy within 90 days to include retailers in order to minimise the
distribution of defective non-conforming or expired products.
The company will also review within 90 days, its
traceability policy to make it easier for the companies to track their products
without necessarily requesting purchase information from consumer, compensate the
consumer whose complaint necessitated the investigation and pay civil penalties
to act as deterrent
The DG added that the Order of Council had been
served on NBC and Coca-Cola Nigeria, pointing out that “it is worth noting that
disobedience to the Order of the Council is punishable upon conviction, with
three years jail term or a fine.”
Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest soft
drink company with revenue of about $12.03 billion in 2013. The brand is very
popular in Nigeria. In 2013, it rolled out over 3 billion bottles of its
product in the country.
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