FCCC: 94 per cent of non-compliant traders on Kadavu

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Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission CEO Joel Abraham. Picture: FT FILE

The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC) has reported that 94 per cent of traders on Kadavu were not complying with the FCCC Act 2010.

“Despite our efforts to encourage compliance coupled with previous visits and trader engagement, it is a sad state of affairs to see willful negligence of consumer protection provisions,” FCCC chief executive Joel Abraham said.

He said in this instance, only four traders out of the 97 businesses inspected were found to have followed the law.

“Even worse, we saw traders who have been operating for several years and are fully aware of the law yet were still blatantly engaging in non-compliance,” Mr Abraham said.

He said traders who were non-compliant were warned for prosecution and were now being investigated.

“Our team will go over their previous records to get a full picture of the severity of the breach before forming an opinion and moving forward with prosecution, as required.”

Mr Abraham and head of Monitoring division Isimeli Vulagi were in Kadavu as part of the Commission’s rural and maritime enforcement action plan.

In a statement, Mr Abraham said he hoped this would serve as a warning to traders who may feel they were not under scrutiny because they lived in remote areas.

“We prefer a collaborative approach with businesses as often non-compliance can be due to the business not being fully informed of their roles and responsibilities when it comes to compliance.

“However, if we find willful and malicious non-compliance, you will have to face the full consequences of your actions.”

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