Justice Date-Bah was speaking at an event in Accra organized by CUTS
International Accra to mark 2015 World Consumer Rights Day.
He stressed that CUTS Accra should stay true to
its mandate of promoting consumer welfare. He further urged the organization
aims to create a long-term partnership with government agencies and
regulatory authorities to work towards protecting the welfare of the Ghanaian
consumers.
Speaking on the theme, The State of the Ghanaian Consumer ,
Mr. Appiah Kusi Adomako, Centre Coordinator for CUTS International Accra,
asserted that consumers have been taken for granted in Africa, particularly
in Ghana where the violation of consumer rights is a daily staple. He called
for the swift passage of the Consumer Protection Bill and implantation of the
policy which has recently been approved by Parliament.
Speaking on the topic The Current State of the Consumer
Protection Policy and Law a consultant for Consumer Protection at the
Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), Mrs. Irene Aborchie-Nyahe reiterated
the urgency for a consumer protection law in Ghana. She mentioned that
because the sovereignty of the Ghanaian consumer was of high priority,
cabinet has approved a consumer protection policy that was developed based on
UN guidelines. She again stated that the Ministry has set up a committee to
work on the consumer protection law. She called on consumers to be as
self-regulators as possible because a consumer alone can ensure value for
money and without their active participation all regulations become
ineffective.
Speaking on the mandates of the Food and Drug Authority (FDA), Mr.
James Lartey, Head of Communications stated that FDA regulates five product
lines which are medicine, processed food products, cosmetics, and medical
devices such as syringes and condoms, and households chemicals. He pointed
out that FDA s main responsibility is ensuring that consumers do not
have problem by using any product. The FDA is working towards increasing
consumer rights awareness concerning the purchasing of drugs from unapproved
premises such as public transport vehicles. He stated that by law, the only
approved premises to purchase drugs are the hospitals, certified licensed
chemical shops and pharmacies. He therefore advised consumers to support the
FDA in regulating the products in the market by reporting expired, smuggled
and adulterated products to the authority.
Mr. Charles Koranche, Senior Standards Officer from the Ghana
Standards Authority (GSA) stressed the importance of adherence to standards
by producers and importers in the country. He said the introduction of the
Ghana Product Conformity Assessment Programme (G-CAP) is an important
step in regulating quality of products and thereby protecting the
consumers.
Mr. Mawuku Zormelo, Deputy Director for Consumer and Corporate Affairs
Division at the National Communication Authority (NCA) mentioned that
consumer sovereignty is paramount to NCA. He added that the NCA has created a
telecommunication environment that promotes competition and innovation which
is evident in the increase number of telecom service providers in the country.
In order to ensure that consumers are aware of their right to quality
communication services, NCA organizes small hamlet fora to educate consumers
of telecom services.
The Public Relations Officer of the National Petroleum Authority
(NPA), Mr. Yaro Kasambata on his part explains that the ACT 691 Section 2 and
Sub-section 6 which mandates the NPA to ensure consumer protection in the
country. NPA aims to ensure fair play between the consumer and the service
providers. He emphasized on the role that NPA plays in ensuring petroleum
products quality through rigorous quality check tests in order to meet
the required standards. Mr. Yaro further elaborated that apart from the
mentioned functions, NPA continually monitors the supply chain to check for
quality maintenance of certified products until they reach for the final
user. He cautioned consumers and advised them to refrain from buying
fuel from non-licensed distributors. . Mr Yaro also shared the same opinion
as the officials present and called for consumers to practice
self-regulation. He clearly stated that regulations have a limit but
the choice of the consumer is limitless
The World
Consumer Rights Day Celebration held at the Paloma Hotel, Accra was attended
by officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, National Communication
Authority (NCA), Food and Drug Authority (FDA), Ghana Standards Authority
(GSA), and the National Petroleum Authority (NPA). The meeting also had
representatives from the Embassy of Switzerland in Ghana, Food Sovereignty
Ghana (FSG), Nestle Ghana and the Vegetarian Association of Ghana as well as
a cross section of the media
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Credit: CUTS Accra
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