Is it an offence to lie about where goods come from or what they are made of?
Trade Descriptions Act · sources read 5 Oct 2026
Yes. Under the Trade Descriptions Act it is an offence for a trader to put a false or misleading description on goods, or to sell or offer goods that carry one, including about what they are made of, how or where they were made and who made them. The penalty is a fine of up to KSh 2 million, up to 5 years in jail, or both.
- Where
- Your county weights and measures office; national Weights and Measures Department, State Department for Trade (complaints@trade.go.ke)
Steps
- Report a false description to your county weights and measures office. They investigate complaints under the Trade Descriptions Act and prosecute offences.
- You can also write to the national Weights and Measures Department at the State Department for Trade (complaints@trade.go.ke).
- An inspector can inspect the goods, enter business premises and seize goods for testing.
Watch out
- By law, goods are 'made' in the country where they last went through a process that substantially changed them, not just where they were packed.
- A seller has a defence if they did not know, and could not reasonably have found out, that the description was false.
- Breaking this Act does not by itself cancel your purchase contract.
Who this covers
- Anyone selling in the course of a trade, business or profession, and their customers.
- It covers spoken claims too, not only labels and adverts.
- Importers, and anyone who handles or deals in imported goods falsely marked with another place of origin.
Official sources (2)
- Trade Descriptions Act (Cap. 505), version of 31 December 2022 new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026
- Weights & Measures trade.go.ke · read 3 Oct 2026