Of fake business

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Nilratan Halder | Published: January 16, 2016 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

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What are the ingredients of fairness cream? Certainly not wheat and chalk. It was exactly the things a manufacturer was clandestinely using for packaging in empty tubes of different reputed brands. Similarly shampoo containers of different brands were filled with spurious substances and more empty containers were waiting to be so packed. Of course, the manufacturer's own products were there as well but without approval by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI).
This criminal activity was unearthed during the drive of a mobile court on the outskirt of the capital the other day. There is no reason to think that this is the first of its kind. It has been happening rather ubiquitously and the mobile court drives occasionally bring to the fore only the tip of the iceberg. Hardly any commodity on demand in the market does enjoy the luck of not being faked.
It is not for nothing that reputed companies are forced to issue notice for consumers to take note of a special mark or seal in order to identify the genuine one from the look-alike. Unless customers are enough careful, there is every chance of getting cheated.
In the present case though, the company concerned at least used mostly natural substances one of which is turmeric. Still raw turmeric paste is used by women in this part of the world for their facial toning. On that count, how much harm the fairness cream it bottled up caused is not known because what chemicals it used to copy the cream need to be determined for that purpose. However, years ago there was a story carried in newspapers that a young man bought a shampoo bottle from the footpath of Gulistan. After its use a few times, his hair started turning grey and then mostly white.
Well, some may argue that in a country where drugs including the life saving ones are spuriously manufactured, such copying pales before that crime. No doubt about it. Because, medicines are administered in order to curing a person from illness or critical conditions when life hangs in the balance. Spurious drugs are sure to aggravate conditions and even end up killing patients. Even the doctors can be confused why the prescribed medicines are not producing the expected results.
The impact of fake commodities on its consumers may not be immediate but it can be equally harmful. If the commodity is edible, it works as a slow poison. As for shampoo, cream and similar other substances with application on human body, the reaction can have permanent effects. From hair fall to its graying to skin diseases may be the outcome.
Now no consumer is expected to spend money and invite such troubles. Unsuspecting consumers though are forced to do so. Naturally this is a serious crime that cannot be taken so lightly. But for decades legal leniency has been the rule of the day. Punishment against such crimes has been made heavier than before but still it is nothing compared to the gravity of the crimes. The mobile courts slap fines of varying amount on erring establishments or such fake companies along with sealing the plant.
Is this enough?  Even the magistrates leading the team of mobile courts  complain that the manufacturers are found to commit the same crime repeatedly only to invite heavier fines. When a reputed bakery with its factory in Tongi was found to resorting to malpractices such as mixing the unsold bread, cakes and pastries with fresh dough for the second time, the amount of fine was Tk 2.0 million. As for the unhygienic condition in which the production continued, an assurance of not doing the same was all that the baker gave.
Regrettably, it is no better in case of fake manufacturers and fake clinic or diagnostic operators. Slapping fines cannot be all. The operators have to be hauled behind the bar and no chance will be left for them to come out and continue the same old criminal business once again. They are not committing a crime against an individual but against the entire nation. Any unsuspecting consumer can fall victim to their harmful product or service. It is therefore essential to make the legal provisions adequately rigorous in order to deal with business or service aberration.