[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’Fake products spreading in Negros Occ.?’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY TIFFANY ANNE TAN
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
BACOLOD City – Provincial Board members called on government agencies and the capitol to address the alleged proliferation of fake products in Negros Occidental.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) will hold a public hearing on the issue on Oct. 5.
It will gather representatives from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Health (DOH), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), local distributors, and the SP committees on trade, health and laws.
SP member Alain Gatuslao said retailers reported to him about the spread of fake commodities.
The fake products include soaps, shampoo, toothpastes, cigarettes, and noodles, said the chairman of the committee on laws and ordinances.
According to Gatuslao, the complaining retailers worry they would lose to their competitors that sell fake commodities at a cost 50 to 60 percent less than the price of the genuine products.
Gatuslao said several authorized distributors were asked to provide samples of genuine products so the concerned agencies and the Provincial Board could compare them with the allegedly fake ones.
The Board member said they want to know if the supposed fake products were just repackaged bad stocks.
Capitol will ask the DTI and the NBI to locate the sources of the fake products, and the DOH to check their chemical composition.
Gatuslao said the fake products were first reported in some retail stores here. Later they were found to be sold also in Kabankalan, Escalante and Himamaylan cities.
“Based on what I have seen, the packaging looks a bit different but the items are really like the real thing,” he said. The Board member urged the public to be vigilant and carefully examine the products they buy./PN
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
