The East African reports that Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) will control advertisements for cosmetics and drugs in a bid to crackdown on fake products. It appears that TFDA is keen on enforcing the Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Act, which restricts promotion of regulated products.
By controlling promotion of products such as food, drugs, cosmetics and medical devices the authority expects that only reliable information will be disseminated to consumers. Any method of introducing, familiarizing or encouraging a person to use a particular medical product will come under close scrutiny by the authority and all forms of advertisements such as posters, billboards, radio and television will be targeted.
The authority blames rapid changes in technology, globalization and market liberation for the increase in fake cosmetics in Tanzania. As a result of trade in counterfeit products many people particularly women have suffered from toxic effects of these products.
The report says that TFDA is currently installing laboratory equipment to analyze the quality of drugs before they are approved.
As posted earlier here on Afro-IP, a recent study revealed that anti-malarial medicines sold in a number of countries across Africa are either counterfeit or are not strong enough to cure the disease. The survey indicated that Kenya at 38% had the highest percentage of inefficient drugs. Uganda and Ghana followed at 35%. Rwanda had 33%.Tanzania and Nigeria 32%.
It will be recalled that during the passage of the Olympic torch in Dare-salaam (reported here) there were protests against the importation of counterfeit goods from China.
Tanzania seems to have taken the lead in the region in fighting counterfeit activities. This latest initiative comes hot on the heels of a new law enacted to give Tanzania's Fair Competition Commission (FCC) powers to take action against dealers of counterfeit goods (see an earlier post here).
In Kenya, efforts to enact an anti-counterfeit law have not borne fruit despite the general consensus that such a law is urgently needed to address the menace.
Monday, 9 June 2008
Tanzania devises new measures to contain fake cosmetics and drugs
Njuguna
1 comments:
Write commentsI think that some products that offer “miracle” results and are sold over the internet are fakes. It’s easy to be fooled and blinded by their catchy phrases and promised results. It’s sad how some people are fooled into buying them. What’s worse is that some of these products are dangerous. The manufacturers are willing to risk this just to gain profit. Speaking of these deceptions, just lately, I found an article here. http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2008/08/16/harvard-gets-hacked-by-scam-mortgage-site-video-proof-exposed-by-the-personal-money-store-no-fax-payday-loans/ This about hackers that disturb google results. The major targets are the reputable non commercial domains such as .edu.gov.org. This is major concern since these acts are done just to gain profit and some unfair advantage. Let us be wary of these acts of deception. I’m so glad that personalmoneystore.com posted this very informative and helpful article. I hope everyone reads this and may it serve as a warning that scams are prevalent these days. Let us all be wise.
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