The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission, is proposing to ban Non-English products, ranging from clothing and toys, to food.
These Non-English products have been widely sold in PNG, and the ICCC has set an objective, under the National Gazettal No G55 on the 20th February 2014, to ban these items as they pose safety issues for consumers.
ICCC Commissioner and CEO, Dr Billy Manoka, said if consumers cannot comprehend the foreign language on the label, they shouldn’t use it or consume the contents.
The proposed ban is in line with the World Health Organization’s guidelines for governments, to establish requirements for proper food labeling and risk management.
In PNG, there is already the Food and Sanitation Act 2007, which clearly states in Section 11, that all food items in PNG have to be labeled in English.
The ICCC has put out a public notice, inviting all suppliers of non-English labeled foodstuff, to meet with them, to discuss the proposed ban.