In the age of globalisation and connectivity, consumers require a maximum disclosure of information from manufacturers or sellers of packaged products.

Generally, this information is disclosed on the products’ label in the form of a nutritional chart in the case of a food product, health guide in the case of pharmacy products or ‘raw materials used’ information in the case of a chemical product.

This disclosure of information can be classified into two areas: compulsory disclosure and voluntary disclosure.

Compulsory disclosure includes statement of facts of the product whose disclosure is required by the applicable law. The voluntary part is related to any additional disclosure regarding important facts which the user of a product may find helpful in making a purchase decision.

Now-a-days, because of the awareness created by mass media and the internet, consumers demand more than just the required legal disclosure in the form of truthful and fair expression of facts related to the ingredients and processes employed in the production of a particular product.

Product labelling is undergoing significant changes all over the world as the era of hiding and suppressing facts related to product quality and usability is over.

Globally, there are some emerging trends related to the field of product labelling which aim at educating consumers regarding the health, safety, quality, usability, expiry, price and storage of the product.

These trends include eco-labelling (or environmental labelling) to inform consumers on the green production policies adopted by the manufacturer.

Similarly, additional health labelling on packaged food is being adopted in European countries aimed at disclosing maximum information, in addition to the compulsory reporting of material facts.

In Pakistan, the practice of truthful labelling and maximum disclosure is in its nascent stage. In the past year, the Punjab Food Authority has taken notice of misleading labelling practices of tea whitener, cooking oil, frozen desserts and packaged milk.

At the federal government level, the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) is empowered to investigate and penalise deceptive marketing practices. For this purpose, the CCP has created the Office of Fair Trade where any person can file an application regarding unfulfilled claimed promises related to products.

Similarly, provincial departments have their own sub-departments to ensure the quality of food products.

The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) offers various certifications to be displayed on the label of a product.

The regulatory authorities in Pakistan need to create a set of labelling guidelines to compel manufacturers or sellers to disclose maximum information related to a product for the benefit of consumers. For this purpose, benchmarking can be established using the European Union labelling rules as guidelines.

Fair or truthful labelling brings many benefits for manufacturers in the form of development of customer trust and loyal consumer base, wider international acceptance of the product, and improvement in the processes/ingredients.

Pakistani manufacturers need to understand the changing attitude of modern day consumers who are in a better position to compare local products with international ones to know the difference.

In the same manner, the mere glorification of products through colourful packing and celebrity endorsements is not enough in this globalised age. There is an immense need for correct labelling on packaging and maximum disclosure of raw materials used, processes employed and the harmful side-effects, if any, of various products.

In addition to following the certification and other international labelling requirements, producers should consider three main factors: language, visibility and understandability for developing a sound labelling practice.

The first factor for effective labelling is the use of commonly understood language for labelling which is Urdu in case of Pakistan.

The second factor is the easy visibility of the text on the product so that consumers may be aware of crucial information. The existing practice of placing an asterisk on the brand name and writing terms and conditions in extremely small fonts at the end of an advertisement is misleading.

Thirdly, the labelling should be commonly understood and should not involve too many scientific terms not understandable by the common consumer.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, June 26th, 2017