Campaigning for consumer protection

The Times of Malta

Monday, 15th March 2010
Editorial


Consumers International, an independent global campaigning voice for consumers which this year is commemorating its first 50 years of existence, marks World Consumer Rights Day today. The theme chosen for this year is Our Money, Our Rights. The aim is to highlight consumer issues in relation to financial services.

The first international conference of leaders from consumer organisations took place in The Hague in March 1960 when five of the 17 organisations present formally agreed to set up the International Organisation of Consumers Unions (IOCU). What the five organisations from Brussels, London, New York and The Hague had in common was a desire to help ordinary people make informed buying decisions and get good value for their money as a post-war consumer boom took hold.

By the late 1990s, the global consumer movement that was born led to a much-altered organisation. The transition was symbolised by a 1995 change of name from IOCU to Consumers International. Today, the founding principles of the movement still energise and inspire people and organisations throughout the CI membership. However, the focus has broadened to address poverty reduction, corporate responsibility, services and sustainable consumption as well as providing advice on consumer products. As the movement enters its second 50 years, its commitment to campaigning, advocacy and engagement continues to grow.

While goods become more heavily promoted through every available means of social communication and, at the same time, having them more readily available, people realised that, very often, they were at the manufacturer's mercy when it came to claims about the quality and value of new products.

On the local front, the Malta Consumers' Association is a voluntary association, set up in 1982, which is a CI member. The main areas of activity of this association, recognised under the Consumers Affairs Act of 1994, include acting as a representative for consumers in Malta, educating them by also using the mass media, providing client services and acting as a pressure group.

Apart from this autonomous organisation, there is the government Consumer Affairs Directorate, which has a multifunctional role to play. These functions include dealing with consumer complaints with a view to reaching amicable settlements; entertaining enquiries received on consumer issues in an informative and expeditious manner; and mounting an ongoing educational campaign to ensure that both the businessman and the consumer are aware of their rights and obligations under the laws of the country.

Modern man is living in a consumer society in which the majority enjoy greater material prosperity than ever before. This is without doubt an achievement. Promoting or seeking an existence that is more satisfying with regard to quality is of itself legitimate. However, one cannot overlook the responsibilities and dangers connected with such progress and what one can perhaps define as its darker shadows in an environment where, for instance, so many material needs are developed and continually increased through clever advertising, giving the impression that one can always have it all. Such a reality further demonstrates that campaigning for consumer education and protection has indeed become a much-needed and beneficial commitment.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100315/opinion/editorial