JOHANNESBURG - South Africa is facing a surge in counterfeit and illicit goods coming into and being manufactured in the country.
This has prompted the Consumer Goods Council of SA to launch six specialised task forces to focus on affected product categories.
Acting National Consumer Commissioner Hardin Ratshisusu says the illicit trade is estimated to cost the economy around R100-billion annually.
"The council has also set up a task team driven by the private sector focusing on various products.
"These are task forces that will have to work very closely with regulators and law enforcement agencies," he said.
Ratshisusu said food safety is being prioritised.
"If you look at food products, we are finding that there are a lot of food in our country that is being imported illegally.
"The challenge with those products is that some of them are not labelled properly, which puts a huge danger to society," he said.