The Consumer Affairs Authority has taken more than 1,400 reusable plastic bottles and baby feeding bottles into custody after a special islandwide enforcement programme targeting products sold without the required quality certification, NewsFirst reported on Sunday.
The Authority said 144 raids and inspections were carried out. Newswire breaks that figure down as 96 inspections of reusable plastic bottles used to carry drinking liquids and 48 of feeding bottles made from polymer materials — a split that sums exactly to the stated total.
NewsFirst says the seized items were taken as court exhibits.
The standards being enforced
Both product categories fall under Direction No. 96, which took effect on 1 April 2026. Reusable plastic bottles must comply with SLS 1616; polymer feeding bottles are covered by SLS 1306.
Locally manufactured products must carry the SLS Product Certification Mark issued by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution. The CAA stressed that a manufacturer simply claiming a product meets the relevant standard is not sufficient.
Imported products are treated differently: they are not required to carry the SLS mark, but must have been inspected and approved for sale under the SLSI Import Inspection Scheme.
Tracing the supply chain
Officers are examining bills, invoices and supply records where necessary to trace non-compliant stock back through retailers, suppliers and distributors to the importer or manufacturer, the Authority said — indicating the inquiry will not stop at the point of sale.
Consumers have been urged to check product information before buying either item, to retain receipts, and to report suspected non-compliant goods to the CAA hotline 1977 during office hours.
The operation continues a run of CAA standards enforcement this year, including an islandwide crackdown that seized 431 uncertified motorcycle helmets, fines over baby diapers sold without importer details, and the 8,500 water bottles carrying fake SLS marks that a court later ordered destroyed.
Not reported
The two accounts differ on timing. NewsFirst describes the Authority as having initiated the raids, implying an operation under way; Newswire says the programme was conducted last week, implying it has concluded. Neither resolves the difference.
No account names the districts covered, identifies any of the businesses raided, says how many of the 144 inspections found violations, or gives the value of the seized stock. Neither says whether prosecutions have been filed, or whether any of the non-compliant bottles were locally made or imported — the distinction that determines which certification route applies.
