In the first quarter of 2022, market inspections by the General Directorate of Consumer Protection, Competition and Fraud Repression (CCF) resulted in the write-up of 359 offences by CCF inspectors with fines levied as penalties in response.

The CCF report for the first quarter of the year obtained by The Post on April 4 detailed that of the 359 cases investigated a total of 273 of them were the result of market inspections with CCF officials confiscating 12,632 kg of goods that were not in compliance with the law.

CCF officials also confiscated 807.50 litres of methanol during their inspections as well as issuing citations to 387 businesses selling fuel that were found to be in violation of various government regulations out of a total of 1,130 fuel businesses that underwent inspections.

The report added that officials nationwide also inspected 52 factory production or manufacturing sites, processing plants or industrial warehouses and found 1,272.068 tonnes of non-compliant goods or goods that were in violation of exclusive import rights and therefore subject to seizure by the authorities.

CCF director-general Phan Oun told The Post that none of the offenses had been sent court yet because CCF procedures dictated that they impose penalties in accordance with the law and for those guilty of first offences it is standard that they pay a fine and sign a contract pledging to cease these illegal business activities.

“Most of the offenses that CCF officials find are related to improper record keeping or mishandling of their financial books as well as misconduct related to gas stations and fuel depots – especially there are problems with those fuel businesses,” he said.

At the same time, Oun called on all business people in the Kingdom to conduct their business honestly in order to increase the confidence of their customers and protect the interests of the public – both public health and the health of the economy – or at least they should do so if they want to avoid having to face judgment in the courts.

According to the CCF’s own internal documents and reports, officials nationwide inspected and found hundreds of tonnes of unsafe products and hundreds of illegal businesses were sanctioned or shut down.

Additionally, the CCF invited 15 companies to clarify perceived discrepancies in their company filings and provide relevant documents. Furthermore, the CCF conducted 14 raids on locations where the production, processing and warehousing of counterfeit goods were taking place, seizing over 13 tonnes of bogus and counterfeit products.

However, despite all of that activity, the CCF director general Phan Oun claimed that although the results were good this past year, the CCF has encountered some challenges due to lack cooperation between relevant institutions in trade facilitation, food safety and consumer protection, which has led to the ineffective implementation of policies, laws and regulations in force.

Without naming names, he urged those institutions and officials to provide better cooperation and support to the CCF in order to fulfill their own duties as officials and to advance the general interests of the public.