According to the 2023 annual report of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), more than 180,000 hazardous products were taken off the Irish market last year. The report further elucidates how CCPC enforced four early morning search procedures in conjunction with two independent competition inquiries.
The CCPC fulfilled 37 competitive compliance inquiries across assorted sectors during the same period. These encompassed compliance scrutinies into the digital sign-up process for athletic events and procurement of graduation attire by technological tertiary institutions.
The CCPC initiated 2,214 consumer protection and product safety checks in 2023, these unanticipated evaluations of business and retail locations, web-based sweeps, and cooperative inspections with custom officials.
As per the report, the CCPC, in 2023 ensured that seven manufactures abide by their safety responsibilities to protect around 2,800 Irish consumers from the dangers of hazardous gas stoves that pose a significant threat of poisoning, scalding injuries, detonations, and fires.
Concerning the procurement of graduation robes, the report discloses that the CCPC secured commitments from numerous Irish technological colleges to modify their procurement tactics. This concern was raised due to a complaint received by CCPC alleging ATU Donegal of potential non-competitive behaviour concerning gown procurements. Nevertheless, the CCPC affirmed that the “ATU Donegal did not violate competition laws”.
According to the report, CCPC Chairman, Brian McHugh, stated that they eradicated over 180,000 harmful products from the Irish market in 2023, for instance, travel adaptors, Hurling helmets, water beads, and chemical-laden toys.
The report further specifies that the active market monitoring by CCPC led to the recall or withdrawal of 58,193 hazardous products from the Irish market. CCPC further dealt with 139 alerts related to unsafe products, resulting in the recall or withdrawal of more than 122,225 products from the market. McHugh added: “Reports suggest that 66 per cent of Irish consumers who follow influencers ended up purchasing a product due to the influencer’s recommendation.”
He mentioned in 2023 that “we participated in a pan-European operation reviewing 40 social media accounts based in Ireland to ascertain their advertisement disclosures. We also released new advice alongside Ireland’s Advertising Standards Authority.”
He further stated, “The surge in our efforts to safeguard consumers mirrors the two-fold increase in compliance warnings issued to merchandisers for ethical issues like deceptive pricing and false return information. The tally of Fixed Payment Notices for violations including lacking price tags escalated by 206%.”