CAP President S M Mohamed Idris said it had received numerous complaints on the quality of such products, with the latest being Tesco brand toilet cleaners.

Making a comparison with the UK-equivalent Tesco toilet cleaner, Idris said the difference was very obvious.

“The item sold in Malaysia lacks a child-resistant cap, unlike the one sold in UK.

“A check on several other brands on the shelves found that these products come with child-resistant packaging.

“We are dismayed that the multinational company, which also retails its own merchandise in its outlets in Asia and Europe, accords Malaysian children a lower standard of care,” he said at a press conference today.

“It is beside the point whether there exists a Malaysian standard for packaging hazardous household products.

“The company should practise the same standards as its home country and not use packaging that would otherwise be unacceptable in their home market.”

Idris added Tesco should recall products without child-resistant packaging and the authorities should make sure that safety standards of products were met.

According to Idris, child-resistant packaging, such as a special safety cap, was needed to reduce the risk of children being exposed to hazardous products, such as disinfectants, household chemicals and cleaning products.

Idris said the World Health Organisation and Unicef had mandated child resistant packaging as one of the best-documented successes in preventing accidental poisoning of children.

“We advise consumers to rid your house of chemical cleaners and use natural or alternative ingredients, such as vinegar, baking soda, essential oils, lemon juice or citric acid to keep your toilet bowls clean.”

Tesco Malaysia had not responded to queries for comments at the time of writing.