KARACHI: The Competition Appellate Tribunal has upheld regulatory findings that frozen desserts were misleadingly marketed as ice cream, backing enforcement action by the country’s antitrust watchdog while reducing the financial penalties imposed.
The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) had launched proceedings following a complaint by a local ice cream manufacturer, which alleged that rival products classified as frozen desserts were being promoted as ice cream through television and digital advertising.
After a formal inquiry, the CCP concluded that the advertising practices misled consumers and issued show-cause notices to the companies involved. In its ruling, the commission relied on standards set by the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority as well as the Punjab Pure Food Regulations 2018, which draw a clear distinction between ice cream and frozen desserts.
Under these standards, ice cream is defined as a product made from milk, cream or other dairy ingredients, while frozen desserts are produced from a pasteurised mix that may include milk products and edible vegetable oils.
The CCP ordered the advertisers to stop presenting frozen desserts as ice cream, holding that the practice constituted false and misleading information in breach of Section 10 of the Competition Act.
On appeal, the tribunal upheld the findings but reduced the penalty imposed on each party from Rs75 million to Rs15 million. An additional fine related to comparative advertising claims portraying frozen desserts as healthier than dairy ice cream was also cut from Rs20 million to Rs5 million.
In its order, the tribunal said the reduction in penalties should not be interpreted as condoning the violations, describing it instead as a calibrated exercise of appellate discretion based on proportionality and mitigating circumstances.
