ESCWA opened
at the at the UN House in Beirut a workshop on Linking Consumer Protection to
National Economic Policy in Lebanon, held in cooperation with Lebanese Ministry
of Economy and Trade.
The opening
of the workshop featured addresses by acting director of ESCWA Economic
Development and Globalization Division (EDGD), Tarik Alami, and acting director
of the Ministry of Economy and Trade Fouad Fleifel, representing Minister Muhammad
Safadi.
Alami
said in his statement that the sharp increase in world-wide commodity prices
over the past few years has raised serious concerns about the food and
nutrition situation of poor people. Countries that are net food importers have
found themselves facing challenges and unable to lower commodity prices in the
short term. Therefore, they should “employ policies aiming at first at helping
poor people cope with higher food and energy bills, and second at protecting
consumers from non-competitive or monopolistic behavior that might aggravate
the problem.” Alami called for increasing consumer knowledge with financial
products and services to ensure consumers ability to compare financial products
and services before and after purchase. Consumer protection is “not confined to
goods, but it also extends to financial products and services,” he said.
Alami
noted UN guidelines on consumer protection, and underlined the work of
officials at the consumer protection directorate, especially at a time when
universal food and fuel prices are increasing. He affirmed that the workshop
aims at “increasing understanding of consumer protection structure and laws in
Lebanon and new emerging issues relating to consumer protection; increasing
understanding of major elements of national economic policy in Lebanon as it
relates to the work of the consumer protection directorate CPD. Availability,
sources, meanings, and relevance of economic data of the Lebanese economy to
better serve CPD aims; improving understanding of Intellectual Property
Protection Office in Lebanon (IPPO), its
mandate, activities, accomplishments and link to consumer protection; offering
hands-on exercises in accessing and querying for Lebanese official trade data;
and enhancing understanding of Lebanon’s major trade agreements and their significance
in relation to consumer protection.”
Fleifel tackled for his part the
consumer protection law (659, issued on 4 February 2005), concerned with
protecting the consumer and their quality of life. He said that it was among
the priorities of the ministry to ensure the flow of trade and protecting
citizens from risks to general security and safety, “this brings us to the
active role played by the consumer protection directorate to achieve its goals,
i.e. ensuring a safe and just trade environment for both consumer and trade
sector, and participating in stimulating Lebanese economy by safeguarding high
criteria to protect consumers.”
Fleifel reminded the audience of the
workshop’s aim to train consumer protection directorate inspectors, whose role
must be emphasized in stimulating Lebanese economy and taking on big tasks. The
most salient among these, according to Fleifel, is “the study of product
pricing and quality for goods sold in Lebanon, routine inspections of shopping
malls based on risk assessments, pre-emptive advice-giving on trade issues, and
responses to consumer complaints and demands.”
Deliberations of the 3-day workshop
feature addresses by 12 speakers on issues of national economic policy, and its
links to consumer protection.
