Date for mandatory markings on packages pushed back to 1 Sep.

• CAA directive was to come into effect on 1 Jan. 
• 76 products including meat, fish products, agrochemicals will require markings

By Chandani Kirinde

A directive by the Consumer Affairs Authority issued to manufacturers, importers, distributors and traders of 76 products - ranging from meat products to agricultural fertilisers and agrochemicals - making markings on their packaging mandatory, which was set to come into effect from 1 January, has been pushed back to 1 September.

CAA Chairman Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Shantha Dissanayake has delayed the date, which had been fixed for 1 January by the previous Government.

The CAA directive makes it mandatory for all packs, containers and wrappers of all articles and goods to include in legible print the Maximum Retail Price, Batch Number, Date of Expiry and Date of Manufacture, Net Weight/Volume, Country of Origin or Manufacture as well as Date of Repacking in cases where products are imported in bulk and repacked or where products are manufactured and packed in bulk and repacked.

The information has also been included in Sinhala, Tamil and English.

The previous directive was issued in August 2019.

It applies to a wide range of products such as spices, bakery products, tea and coffee, cement, batteries, etc.