[Source: FCCC]

A Trader who tampered with the expiry date of a product has been fined $10,000.

The company was charged for false and misleading representation after a routine inspection conducted by the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission.

The expiry date on the packets had been altered with a ball pen to read ‘2019’, instead of ‘2017’.

FCCC CEO, Joel Abraham, says altering the expiry date of a product to show a later one is a very serious breach of not only consumer rights but also human rights.

Abraham says this is the second offence by the company and the commission is in complete agreement with the court’s decision.

The company also entered into an early guilty plea, saving the Court’s time and resources, as well as seeking forgiveness from the Court.

The company was ordered to pay $10,000 as a fine and $100 as part of prosecution costs.