The Ministry of Commerce has discovered that the importer of Kofi brand milk products has illegally altered the barcodes of several product lines to fool the public into believing they were manufactured in Cambodia, when in fact they were made in Thailand. The products have been distributed throughout Phnom Penh and several provinces.
The ministry ordered the immediate recall of all such products, with a deadline of today, August 18.
The Ministry did not disclose the name of the importer.
On the evening of August 17, officials responded to public complaints about the altered barcodes — which were changed from 885 (Thai-manufactured) to 884 (Cambodia) — with officials from the General Department is Consumer Protection Competition and Fraud Repression (CCF) conducting a series of inspections.
They first visited the company’s showroom, located on Phnom Penh’s Mao Tse Tung Boulevard. Their inquiries confirmed the barcode fraud, and this was acknowledged by the owner of the business.
With his cooperation, CCF officials inspected the company’s warehouse, near Deum Thkov Market in Boeung Trabek. They discovered a total of 205 cases of Kofi milk products: 144 already labelled with the altered barcode, and 61 yet to be labelled. The owner admitted to distributing these products to six different provinces and provided the import documentation for verification by CCF officials.
Due to the urgency of the matter, the ministry implemented immediate measures.
The importer was given two days to recall all products with altered packaging, and all fraudulent Cambodian barcode stickers must be removed under the supervision of CCF officials.
CCF officials will continue to take further legal action as stipulated in relevant laws and regulations.
Many members of the public took to the ministry’s social media channels to condemn the unethical actions of the business owner and called for strict penalties. Others suggested that broader inspections should be conducted on other products as well.
It is believed the fraud was committed due to the current widespread boycotts of Thai products, which is driven to the ongoing border dispute.
Some Facebook users noted that this case is not isolated — many others are currently importing products from China, Vietnam, Thailand and elsewhere, then rebranding them to falsely claim they are made in Cambodia.
