Government to inspect toiletries factories

The government is going to inspect the toiletries manufacturing factories to find out the rationale for increasing the prices of different essential toiletries.

With an aim to contain the continuously increasing prices of different essential toiletries like soap, detergent and toothpaste, the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection (DNCRP) will inspect the factories to know whether the price hike of essential toiletries is reasonable or not, said officials of the directorate at a views exchange meeting.

At the meeting, DNCRP Director General AHM Safikuzzaman said, “After inspecting the factories, we will submit a report to the commerce ministry detailing our findings. The ministry will then decide what could be done.”

The DNCRP organised the meeting, attended by consumers and manufacturers, at its Karwan Bazar head office in the capital on Wednesday.

Representatives of consumers’ rights organisations said toiletries producing brands are not satisfied even after increasing the price of almost all the essential toiletries by 50 per cent.

They said t price of 500 gm detergent has now increased to Tk 90 which was Tk 60 in 2020 while the price of Tk 52 bath soap has jumped to Tk 75. As such, the price of these two products has increased by 50 per cent.

Not only these two products, but the prices of all types of daily toiletries have also increased in the market, they alleged.

In response, the representatives of different toiletries brands claimed at the views exchange meeting that they have been forced to hike the prices due to the increase in the price of raw materials.

They said as a result of the increased price of the dollar and raw materials, the production costs have multiplied so much that the prices need to be increased further. But the manufacturers are not able to do so keeping the consumers in mind.

Around 80% of the raw materials for toiletries have to be imported. Due to the increase in the price of these raw materials in the international market, the cost of production has increased up to 96 per cent, claimed the representatives of toiletries manufacturing companies.

But, the representatives of consumer rights organisations said that using the increase in raw materials prices as a pretext, the manufacturers are hiking the product prices several times more than the increased cost of production or transportation.

Responding to the complaint, the DNCRP officials said that they have decided to investigate whether the price hike of essential toiletries is reasonable or not. “We will inspect the manufacturing factories to find out the rationale for increasing the price of the products,” said AHM Safikuzzaman, director general of the directorate.

In the meeting, the representatives of soap, detergent, toothpaste and liquid cleaner manufacturing companies claimed that since the end of 2020, the production cost has increased almost twice. But the product prices have been increased by half. Prices were not adjusted as per the actual increase in production cost. In this situation, the manufacturers are facing tremendous pressure to maintain the balance between increased production costs and product prices. As a result, the consumers are also under pressure.

In the meeting, Kazi Abdul Hannan, a member of the Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said it is time to monitor whether big companies are holding consumers hostage by capitalising on brand value and people’s emotions.

AHM Safikuzzaman said, “The companies should show a logical reason for increasing the price of a product. That is why we will go to their factory. We want to analyze how much raw material is being imported, how much is the production cost and at what price which product is being sold in the market.”

He said, “The consumers are finding it difficult to buy daily essentials at increased prices. Especially, limited and low-income people are suffering more. That is why we are sitting in the discussion meeting. We want to see whether the increase in the price of the product is reasonable or not.”

Unilever CFO Zahid Malitha, Square Toiletries Ltd’s Head of Operations Malik Mohammed Sayeed, and Senior Executive of ACI Consumer Brands Md Polash Hossain, among others, addressed the meeting.