Cabinet approves Consumer Protection Policy

Cabinet has approved the Consumer Protection Policy which was presented before it.

This was revealed by a Consultant on Consumer Protection, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Mrs Irene Aborchie-Nyahe.

She said the main aim of the policy was to ensure the effective implementation of guidelines which would ensure adequate consumer protection.

Mrs Aborchie-Nyahe said this in Accra during a programme organised by the Consumer Unit and Trust Society (CUTS) Ghana to mark the World Consumer Rights Day, which was to educate Ghanaians on the need to protect the interest of consumers.

She intimated that a Committee had been set up to seek to the implementation of issues as raised in the Policy which had been approved by the Cabinet.

She cited the establishment of the Consumer Protection Authority as one of the main requirement of the new policy to enable Government to adequately oversee all issues relating to consumer protection.

She stated the rule on advertising, consumer choice, and consumer protection for the disabled, as some of the issues raised in the new policy.

According to her, it would also be required to establish officers in all the regions as well as well as desks on consumer protection at the Ministry.

She hinted that very soon, it would become illegal for sellers to display “Goods sold are not returnable” tags on their premises as the implementation of the new law empowered the consumer to return damaged goods.

She urged consumers to guard against the purchase of unwholesome goods as they would be in a better position to protect themselves than any other regulatory institution.

Mr Appiah Adomako, Executive Director, CUTS Ghana, expressed the readiness of the Society to work to ensure that the rights of consumers were duly protected.

He also expressed concern about instances whereby unwholesome goods were not recalled from the markets, adding that, such instances did not augur well for consumer protection.

He also expressed worry about fuel adulteration by some filling stations in the country as well as the sale of food in dirty environments and appealed to manufacturers to reduce the high level of sugar and cholesterol in their products as they did not augur well for the health of consumers.

He urged the United Nations to consider incorporating the celebration of the World Consumer Right Day into their activities to give it a more global acceptance.

Yaro Kasambata, Head of Consumer Protection and Public Affairs, National Petroleum Authority, said together with the Ghana Standards Authority, the NPA worked to ensure that products were of high quality.

He said using cutting edge machines which were among the finest in the sub region, the NPA ensured that products sold by service stations were of high quality.

He pointed out that his outfit would not hesitate to sanction any service station that did not follow laid down rules for selling fuel in the country, adding that, the NPA was also working hard to weed out all unregistered fuel sellers in order to sanitise the system.

There were submissions from representatives from the Food and Drugs Authority, Ghana Standards Authority and the National Communications Authority on what they were doing to ensure consumer protection.