Chairman of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), Farid Ahmad Tarar, has highlighted Pakistan’s efforts to promote responsible business practices, combat deceptive marketing and strengthen consumer protection in traditional and digital markets at an international conference in Moscow, Russia.
Tarar represented Pakistan at the First International Conference on “Consumer Rights Protection in the Digital Era”, held on October 8–9, 2026. The event brought together international organisations, regulators, government institutions, technology platforms and businesses to discuss emerging consumer-protection challenges.
Organised by Russia’s Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor), the conference provided a platform for sharing regulatory experiences and exploring approaches to consumer protection in increasingly digitalised markets.
CCP Chairman Links Competition With Consumer Welfare
Addressing a session on responsible business and safe products, Tarar emphasised that effective competition and consumer welfare are closely connected.
He explained that competitive markets encourage businesses to innovate, improve product quality and offer better value. At the same time, accurate and transparent information enables consumers to make informed purchasing decisions.
Referring to Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010, the CCP chairman said businesses could compete vigorously, but their marketing claims must remain truthful, verifiable and transparent.
He cited selected CCP cases involving Strepsils, Dettol, Lifebuoy and frozen dessert marketed as dairy ice cream to illustrate how misleading representations can affect consumer choices and distort competition.
The examples highlighted the importance of ensuring that advertising claims accurately reflect product characteristics and do not create false impressions about quality, composition or benefits.
CCP Expands Technology-Based Market Surveillance
Tarar highlighted the commission’s use of technology-enabled tools to identify potentially deceptive marketing practices across digital platforms.
These measures include web-scraping tools, artificial intelligence-assisted analysis of product claims and advertisements, the Meta Ad Library and social-media monitoring.
According to the chairman, digital markets present particular challenges because of seller anonymity, counterfeit product listings, information asymmetry and the rapid cross-border spread of misleading claims.
The CCP’s surveillance efforts have helped flag concerns involving the non-disclosure of mercury in beauty products, misleading claims about regulatory approvals, questionable health representations and other potentially harmful product claims.
The use of digital monitoring tools is intended to help regulators identify questionable practices more effectively as online advertising and e-commerce continue to expand.
Responsible Marketing Requires Enforcement and Public Awareness
The CCP chairman stressed that enforcement alone cannot address the full range of consumer-protection challenges.
He highlighted the importance of preventive measures and public advocacy alongside regulatory action. The commission has issued guidance intended to improve business compliance with deceptive-marketing provisions and encourage responsible commercial conduct.
Clearer marketing standards and greater awareness among businesses can help reduce the risk of misleading claims, while informed consumers are better positioned to assess product information.
The emphasis on prevention reflects the need for regulators and businesses to respond to emerging risks in both conventional retail markets and digital commerce.
CCP and Russian Antimonopoly Authority Discuss Regulatory Cooperation
During his visit to Moscow, Tarar held a bilateral meeting with Maxim Shaskolsky, Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of the Russian Federation, and members of his team.
The meeting focused on advancing cooperation under the memorandum of understanding signed between the CCP and FAS on November 27, 2025.
The agreement covers several areas of competition regulation, including cartel investigations, abuse of dominance, merger control, deceptive marketing and sectoral competition assessments.
Tarar said the MoU provided a strong foundation for cooperation through expert exchanges, training programmes, consultations and joint research.
Pakistan and Russia Reaffirm Commitment to Competition Enforcement
Shaskolsky welcomed continued institutional engagement between the two authorities and expressed FAS’s readiness to share regulatory experience and advance joint activities under the agreement.
Both authorities reaffirmed their commitment to practical cooperation aimed at strengthening enforcement capabilities and promoting competitive, transparent and consumer-friendly markets.
The engagement reflects the importance of international regulatory collaboration as digital commerce creates challenges that increasingly extend beyond national borders.
For Pakistan, participation in the Moscow conference provided an opportunity to present the CCP’s approach to deceptive marketing and digital market surveillance while exploring avenues for greater cooperation with international competition authorities.