Impact of Consumer Rights and

Protection on Business: Case Study on

Food and Cosmetic Business

Food Business
Introduction
Everyone needs food for sustenance, but sometimes food can cause
health problems when not handled properly. Food Safety is the
conditions and practices that preserve the quality of food to prevent
contamination and foodborne illnesses received from eating food that
contains germs, bacteria, or viruses. Food safety is very important
because there are people all over the world who have received illnesses
by eating food that is not safe.

Right to food
The right to food, and its variations, is a human right protecting the
right of people to feed themselves in dignity, implying that sufficient
food is available, that people have the means to access it, and that it
adequately meets the individual's dietary needs. The right to food
protects the right of all human beings to be free from hunger, food
insecurity and malnutrition. The right is derived from the ‘International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’. The ‘International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ recognizes the "right
to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food", as well as
the "fundamental right to be free from hunger".
The right to food is recognized in the ‘1948 Universal Declaration of
Human Rights’ (Article 25) as part of the right to an adequate standard
of living, and is enshrined in the ‘1966 International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ (Article 11). The 2009 Optional
Protocol to the ‘International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights’ makes the right to food justiciable at the international
level. In 2012, the Food Assistance Convention is adopted, making it the
first legally binding international treaty on food aid.

The Safety of Food

The safety of food is essential to any consumer and so should be a
priority for any food business. Consumers want to be assured that the
food they buy and eat is:
 What it is labelled to be (i.e. Doesn't contain pork if it is labelled
as beef)
 Will not harm them once eaten

In order to protect the public, various laws regulate food retailers.

These include:
 The Food Safety Act 2013
 The General Food Law Regulation (Regulation EC 178/2002)
 General Food Regulations 2004
 Food Hygiene Regulations 2006
This legislation applies to anyone working with food, at the production,
processing, storage, distribution or sale stages. Small businesses are not
exempt from these regulations, neither are non-profit making
organisations.
The Food Safety Act 2013 created three key offences:
 1) Rendering food injurious to health (e.g. selling gluten-free food
that actually contains gluten)
2) Selling food which is not of the nature or quality demanded (e.g.
selling chicken nuggets made with chicken fat rather than actual
meat)
3) Falsely or misleadingly describing or presenting food (e.g. selling
horsemeat mince labelled as beef)

Food Safety in Bangladesh

At present there are several laws and acts in Bangladesh to provide safe
food to the consumers. Article 15 of the Constitution of the People’s
Republic of Bangladesh states that it shall be a fundamental
responsibility of the state to secure to the citizens provision of the basic
necessities of life including food. Article 18 of the Constitution states
that the State shall raise the level of nutrition and improve public
health as its primary duties.
However, the consumers’ food safety still cannot be ensured. Food
safety threats in Bangladesh are arsenic in food, adulterated food,
genetically modified food, environment pollutants in food, human-
induced food adulteration during farm production, industrial
production, marketing, and street food vending. Numerous food
processors are producing, processing and preparing foodstuffs in
serious unhygienic environments. Food adulteration is a growing
problem in Bangladesh as large numbers of consumers have become
victims of consuming adulterated foods.
According to an article in the ‘Daily Sun’ newspaper, food adulteration
is labelled as the ‘silent killer’. Despite the existing food safety act the
consumers are suffering from food safety threats which in turn
increasing many types of life-threatening diseases for the consumers.

The Food Safety Act, 2013

(Act No. 43 of 2013)
An Act to make provisions for the establishment of an efficient and
effective authority and for regulating, through coordination, the
activities relating to food production, import, processing, stock, supply,
marketing and sales, so as to ensure the rights toward access to safe
food through appropriate application of scientific process, upon
repealing and reenacting the existing laws connected thereto.
Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) was established under Section
5 of The Food Safety Act, 2013 of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.

Ensuring Consumers’ Right- Food Safety

A seminar was organized by ‘Consumer Rights Protection Committee
(CRPC)’ on July 2020 at Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka about "Public
Awareness in Consumers Rights Protection and Role of the government
in Social Development". Speakers at the seminar concluded that people
should be made aware of the consumers’ right to ensure their rights.
Lack of awareness is hindering the successful enforcement of the
existing laws.
Some measures to ensure food safety issues in Bangladesh were
pointed out by the ‘Daily Star’ newspaper. They are-
 To ensure consumer rights effectively in Bangladesh it is necessary
to establish a separate consumer court to deal with cases of
violation of consumers’ rights.
  Empowering the consumer is also important so that the
aggrieved consumers can individually sue against the violators.
 Civil society and media people should come forward to create
awareness about the rights of consumer.
 Last but not the least leaders and distinguished persons of the
society should participate in the campaign to increase the
awareness of the consumer and alert the government.

At long last it is really necessary to ensure the food safety for the
consumers to ensure public health issues and to create a healthy future
generation.

Cosmetic Business
Introduction
Cosmetics industry is a licensed industry to conduct cosmetic
production process. Cosmetic industry must apply Good Manufacturing
Product (GMP) to produce safe and high-quality products. It includes
management system of quality, human resource, building, supporting
facility, equipment, sanitation & hygiene, production, quality control,
documentation, complaint management and product withdrawal.
However, safety has emerged an important concern for every
consumer of beauty product. Over the years, some activist groups have
targeted cosmetics as possible human health threats, claiming that
cosmetic ingredients are not adequately tested for safety and may pose
risks to consumers. The groups allege that industry practices related to
safety testing are flawed, that there is little government oversight, and
that cosmetics contain cancer-causing chemicals and other toxicants.
Cosmetic Hazards
According to a research paper of University of Rochester Medical
Centre (URMC) some of the safety concerns that may be associated
with cosmetics and personal care products include:
 Eye infections
 Spreading bacteria on the skin
 Irritation and scratches on the eye
 Fire hazards, in the case of aerosol products such as hairspray
 Allergic reactions or sensitivity to ingredients
 Contaminants in products

Cosmetic Safety in Bangladesh

According to a study by the Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB),
45% of the country's cosmetics have no certification of the BSTI
(Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institutions). The internet is filled
with videos of duplicate cosmetics being produced in different parts of
the country. Perpetrators tend to fill empty containers of the original
cosmetic products with duplicated liquids and scents. These cosmetic
items include shampoo, body spray, body lotion, and soap from brands
like Vaseline, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Sunsilk, Clear, Garnier, and
Rejoice among others. Use of these substances containing harmful
chemicals can cause itching, hair loss, swelling, pigmentation and even
skin cancer.

The Consumer Right Protection Act

The Consumer Rights Protection Act, 2009 (CRPA) states that it is anti-
consumer rights practice to sell adulterated goods, to sell goods that
have harmful ingredients, to deceive consumers by untrue and false
advertisement and to manufacture any fake goods and medicine
among others (Section 2 (20)). Imprisonment for a period not exceeding
three years or fine not exceeding Taka 200,000/- or both, are stated as
punishments for the offences.
The Act also provides for a National Consumer Right Protection Council,
and also a Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection where
the Director General is appointed to oversee the consumer rights
practices throughout the nation.
According to the ‘Daily Star’ newspaper, “Enactment of the CRPA in
2009 was a major step in protecting consumer rights; however, the
nation still has a long way to go in implementing its provisions.”

Ensuring Consumers’ Right- Cosmetic Safety

According to a professor of law of Dhaka University, even though the
law provides various remedies for consumers, the key problem is the
lack of awareness among the consumers of the legal protection they
are entitled to. The few who are aware of the markets being flooded
with fake cosmetics probably tend to avoid the hassle of lodging a
formal complaint.

Some initiatives which may be helpful to ensure the rights of the

consumers according to the ‘Prothom Alo’ newspaper are-
 To educate the people of their rights as consumers and encourage
them to complain against any anti-consumer rights practices.
 People should also be made aware that provided a complaint is
proved true upon investigation, and a fine is imposed on the guilty
 party either by the Director General or by the concerned court,
25% of the realised fine shall be paid to the complainant. The
complainant can also get additional compensation by instituting a
civil suit.
 Electronic media, print media and social media has been playing a
commendable role in creating awareness among people; however
most of their campaigns are limited to adulterated food products,
but not cosmetics. Campaigns regarding cosmetics safety should
be organized more.
 There should have been frequent monitoring, checking, examining
or testing of the quality and standard of a product in conformity
with its labelling and law.
 The punishment for committing crimes against consumer rights
should be increased to have a deterrent effect. Fourthly, the
government should encourage and support non-government,
non-political, non-profit and voluntary organisations like CAB,
which act as a watch-dog to ensure consumer rights. One of the
most significant steps CAB has taken is to run a 'Complaint Cell' in
order to receive and document complaints and grievances from
the aggrieved consumers related to violation of their rights and
interests involved in the purchase and use of commodities and
services. The cell initiates investigations into those complaints and
provide redressal in the form of settlement through negotiation
and mediation between the parties. The National Consumer
Rights Council can also take measures to provide such alternate
dispute mechanisms.
Food is one of the prime necessities of life and cosmetics and beauty
products have also become a daily necessity in our day-to-day life. So,
ensuring proper safety for the consumers of these two important parts
of life should be our main priority. If not the impacts of adulterated
foods and cosmetics would be so hazardous that we cannot but regret
in the near future. Therefore, the consumers’ rights should be applied
properly for the betterment of our nation.