Consumer protection is non-existent in Pakistan. Successivegovernments have been very quick in introducing market mechanismto change the outlook of the country's economy, but at the sametime they have ignored its impact on the people,'' maintains AliQadir, an Islamabad-based consumer protection activist. In the absence of regulatory controls and quality checks, thereare defective, over-priced and expired products in the market, butthere is no place where complaints can be redressed. These people are playing with the lives of the people and thereis no law in the country which can give them exemplarypunishment. All packaged milk brands claim that they are the purest andhighest selling in the country.
Officials say that food adulteration and hoarding are rampant buttheir hands are tied.
Recently, the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency tested several brands of mineral and bottled water and found most of them sub-standard, with deceptive andmisleading labels. However, the agency did not name the brands,saying that was not part of its mandate. Earlier the agency found unsafe lead levels in brands ofwall paint. But again it did not inform consumers about thehazardous brands. ''We just can't go public with our findingssince it would create distrust in the industry. We have toldthe manufacturers to bring the lead content to permissiblelimits,'' said one agency official.