The Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) has recommended that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) should prosecute Zamm Investments for supplying Cool Drop Natural Mineral Water.
According to a statement signed by CFTC Executive Director, Lloyd Nkhoma, the company has been found guilty of selling products likely to cause injury to health or physical harm to consumers and unconscionable conduct in the trade of goods and services.
It follows complaints from MANAC Conference Centre located at Dowa, MANAC Conference Centre located at Dowa and an anonymous person.
“When the CFTC staff visited MANAC Conference Centre located at Dowa, they found that the conference facility was serving its customers with sealed “Cool Drop Natural Mineral Water” in 500ml bottles, whose contents had floating debris, an occurrence which brought concerns as to whether the water was safe for human consumption.
“On 12” January 2023, the CFTC received a complaint from a Complainant (who sought anonymity) alleging that she purchased Cool Drop Natural Mineral Water which contained some white debris floating inside. The water was from the same Batch number, manufacture and expiry date as that found by Commission staff.
“The CFTC received another complaint from MANAC Conference Centre located at Dowa, through their letter dated 8th February 2023, alleging that they purchased 50 cases of Cool Drop Natural Mineral Water which had floating debris,” reads part of the statement released on August 30.
Nkhoma said suspecting that the Respondent may have violated the provisions of the Competition and Fair Trading Act (CFTA), CFTC instituted investigations on the matter.
He said the investigations involved site visit as well as testing of the water samples of the particular batches by the competent authorities namely the central laboratory at Ministry of Water and Sanitation and the laboratory at the Malawi Bureau of Standards.
“After deliberations by the Commission on the Secretariat’s findings, the following determinations were made; that the respondent should be prosecuted for violating Sections 43(1)(e) and 43(1)(g) of the CFTA. Therefore, the Commission should submit the investigations report to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for prosecution.
“That the Commission should refer the matter to Malawi Bureau of Standards for necessary regulatory actions and also to conduct a recall of all the products from the affected batches that may still be on the market.
“That the Commission should issue an advisory note to the National Water Resource Authority and the Ministry of Water and Sanitation to conduct a due diligence on water abstraction and proximity between the source of water i.e. well, borehole and the waste disposal tanks at production facility for ZAMM Investments,” reads the statement further
