• Empower regulator to enforce legislation and do not duplicate roles: CAA official
• Calls for penalties and legislation to be updated, gaps in law filled
• Testing capacity and staff numbers need to be increased: PHI Union 

Despite the presence of multiple institutions tasked with safeguarding consumer rights, outdated legislation, weak penalties, and inadequate resources continue to undermine attempts at consumer protection.

While the main consumer protection law in Sri Lanka is the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) Act No.9 of 2003, a senior official at the CAA pointed out that the authority alone could not be responsible for consumer protection.

“There are many institutions to protect consumer rights; the CAA is just one of these institutions. In this context, there cannot be institutional duplication of regulation, since it would create conflict. Therefore, what needs to be done is for the powers given to the CAA to be implemented,” he said. 

The official further noted that the regulation of items such as food and cosmetics was under the purview of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) and Public Health Inspectors (PHIs).

Outdated laws, limited resources

While food safety is governed through the Food Act No.26 of 1980, its enforcement falls to PHIs operating under the Ministry of Health. Although the CAA intervenes in certain cases, the mandate lies with the PHIs.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, PHIs’ Union of Sri Lanka Secretary M.A.A.D.S. Muthukuda, while acknowledging that there were serious concerns with both imported and locally produced food in the country, said that PHIs investigated both regional food producing institutions as well as samples available for sale in the market.

While such investigations have led to legal action against violators, the issue of substandard products persists. “The problem is that regardless of legal action, the situation is not being controlled,” he noted, outlining several reasons for this.

“Firstly, the legislation that operates in terms of this is the Food Act No.26 of 1980. The penalty fee in this act was last amended in 1991, which means that the fine currently being implemented has been the same amount for over 30 years. Such a negligible fine means that fraudulent traders do not pay it much attention, since they can simply pay the fine,” he said, noting: “The penalty fees in the Food Act are absurd; people disregard them and continue to commit the same infraction after paying the fines.”

The second issue relates to the lack of adequate laboratory facilities to inspect food. “Sri Lanka has only five chemical testing laboratories, which can’t test every food item; they can only do limited testing. When it comes to microbiological testing, which tests short-term perishable food items such as rice packets, there are only two laboratories. We do have more laboratories, but these numbers refer to laboratories where there are approved analysts who can investigate under the Food Act for legal purposes,” Muthukuda noted.

Further, transporting samples to the laboratories compounds the situation. “The two microbiological labs are in Borella and Kalutara, so if a sample is taken, it must be transported to the lab within 24 hours. If a PHI in Jaffna takes a microbiological sample, transporting the sample to Colombo within 24 hours is an arduous process.”

He further noted that these laboratories were unable to test every sample sent by all PHIs islandwide, meaning that all food in the market was not continuously subjected to testing due to the  deficiencies in the laboratory system.

Moreover, shortcomings among the PHIs also contribute significantly, in addition to these officials being incapable of covering the large extent and population under them. As such, he noted that there was a shortfall of about 500–1,000 PHIs.

A legal vacuum

The regulation of cosmetics faces similar constraints. Outlining the issue with cosmetics regulation, the CAA official noted that previously, cosmetics had fallen under the Cosmetics, Devices, and Drugs Authority legislation. With the new NMRA Act, the cosmetics aspect has been removed and only drugs are being regulated by the NMRA.

“Accordingly, there is a gap in the market since cosmetics aren’t being regulated. There needs to be a new act to fill this gap. Since 2017–’18 especially, there was a rise in the influx of substandard cosmetics to the market, especially whitening creams, for which a large market emerged. However, importation ceased somewhat with the economic crisis, leading to local manufacturing,” he said.

Accordingly, in 2018, the CAA issued a gazette to regulate such beauty products, specifying permissible maximum limits for heavy metals in skin creams and lotions, along with mandatory information that must be clearly marked on such products. 

“Alongside this, the CAA is undertaking raids and investigations, especially in markets in Pettah where such products are sold, which has led to a significant reduction of such products,” the official further noted.

However, with the internet, especially social media, which promotes such products, the CAA finds itself facing difficulties in controlling the spread.

The CAA official pointed out that the issue with social media was that there was no means of identifying the seller of products, since most displayed fraudulent contacts and testimonies. The situation becomes more dangerous especially with the proliferation of products such as unregulated injections and pills.

“This cannot be solved solely through legislation; there needs to be public awareness about the dangers of using such products,” he noted, observing that people being increasingly drawn to such products complicated attempts to take them off the market.  

“While we advise customers not to purchase products without a name or address, products sold on the internet are missing these details. If they cause damage, we have no means of identifying the seller, since the pages of such sellers usually disappear.”

However, he noted that the CAA had managed to curb the sale of such products in the market to a large extent. “The CAA conducts continuous raids, but raids alone cannot control this. Such products instead need to be rejected by the market itself. Even when the products are not physically sold in the market, they are secretly sold through social media since people are deceived through false advertising.”

The official further noted that the CAA alone could not control this situation fully since it required additional legislation and the contribution of multiple institutions. 

“While the CAA takes steps to close the gaps, the authority alone cannot fully close them. There needs to be separate regulation, since these products need to be prevented from entering the country. Or else, those that are imported should be tested and enter the market subsequent to approval, such as that of the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) or other relevant institutions,” he added.

Upholding consumer interests

Meanwhile, consumer rights activist Asela Sampath noted that there was not enough discourse regarding the quality of food and consumer goods in the country and the subsequent damage caused by substandard goods. 

He criticised the lack of regulation for various goods by authorities, especially in the online sphere, which was seeing increased incidents of false advertising of products amid the ignorance of the public. 

“There are serious concerns about all consumer goods in the market, given the outdated laws and the failure to use new technology and equipment by the institutions tasked with investigating such products. The Government has still been unable to reform the CAA Act to suit future needs,” he stated.

University of Colombo (UOC) Faculty of Law Department of Commercial Law Prof. Nishantha Sampath Punchihewa meanwhile pointed out that the CAA Act had to play a major role in preventing the enormous health risks to the population through the availability of substandard products. 

“That is where regulators should come forward and take care of the interests of consumers. However, that is not happening properly. Laws alone will not serve the purpose; there needs to be institutional mechanisms and trained human resources, in addition to implementation of laws and regulations,” he said.

Noting that the current CAA Act had been enacted in 2003, Prof. Punchihewa pointed out that this piece of legislation had been in use for over two decades. Accordingly, he said that fully implementing legislation, proper monitoring methods, testing, and raids were essential.