Herbal medicine retailers are coming under close scrutiny from the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) which is warning they could face fines as high as $100,000 or time behind bars for breaching local consumer protection laws.
Director of Consumer Protection at the Fair Trading Commission (FTC) Dava Leslie-Ward said on Thursday that a decision to keep a close eye on those types of businesses was made after the FTC’s attention was recently drawn to certain claims being made about the efficacy of their products.
She told Barbados TODAY that while the state-run agency does not currently have reason to take punitive action against these retail stores or entities, it has seen the need to try to protect consumers from potentially misleading or false claims.
Leslie-Ward said prosecution is among the options at the disposal of the FTC.
“It really depends on the particular situation that is before us, but the legislation gives us a wide range of options that we can take.
“This breach that we were speaking about, which would be false advertising, that would fall under Sections 12 and 13 of the Consumer Protection Act. If you then go to Section 26, then that sets out that a person who contravenes any requirement or prohibition contained in any provision of Section 12 to 24 is guilty of an offence,” she explained.
An individual who is found guilty of an offence under the Act is liable to a fine of $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term of two years, or both; while in the case of an entity,...
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