KARACHI, March 15: Around 50 per cent of the products that have flooded the Pakistani markets are substandard, adulterated or counterfeit and consumers are being cheated due to the absence of consumer protection laws and a lack of enforcement of the existing food and drug laws.

These views were expressed at a conference on ‘‘Consumer protection in Pakistan’’ organised by Helpline Trust, at a local hotel to mark the World Consumer Rights Day on Saturday.

The chairman of the Trust, Hamid Maker, said that over 300 brands of cooking oil and bottled water were available in the market, but only nine cooking oil and 22 Banaspati manufacturers, 36 water bottlers, one biscuit manufacturer, and only one carbonated drinks manufacturer had got themselves registered with the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA).

He deplored that under the existing laws in Pakistan adulteration and manufacture of substandard and counterfeit products were punishable by imprisonment and a fine, but not a single manufacturer had been prosecuted or punished so far.—PPI