CCP Vows Crackdown on Misleading Ads, Fake Products at Moscow Conference

ISLAMABAD (Staff Report): Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) Chairman Farid Ahmad Tarar said Pakistan is taking strong steps to curb deceptive marketing and protect consumers in digital markets.

He was speaking at the First International Conference on Consumer Rights Protection in the Digital Era held in Moscow on October 8-9, organized by Russian authority Rospotrebnadzor.

Tarar said competition and consumer welfare are interlinked and businesses must keep their claims truthful and verifiable under Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010. He cited CCP actions against Strepsils, Dettol, Lifebuoy and frozen desserts sold as dairy ice cream as examples of misleading claims.

He said CCP is using web-scraping, AI tools, Meta Ad Library and social media monitoring to track deceptive ads. He noted the system has flagged mercury in beauty creams, fake regulatory approvals and false health claims.

Tarar also held a meeting with Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service Head Maxim Shaskolsky to advance cooperation under the CCP-FAS MoU signed in November 2025. Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in cartel investigations, merger control and deceptive marketing.