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The Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN) held a
consultative meeting on the protection of the Palestinian consumer in
order to coordinate efforts to clarify the policies and mechanisms to
implement the Consumer Protection Law. The meeting was attended by a
number of stakeholders including customs officers, policemen, the
Ministry of the Economy, the Ministry of the Interior, Cabinet members,
State Audit & Administrative Control Bureau - SAACB, and Palestine Trade
Center- PALTRADE.
This gathering came in light of the problems that disgrace the
legislative and institutional realities that govern the process of
protecting the Palestinian consumer. Among these problems are the
non-application of relevant Palestinian legislation and a lack of
commitment to its provisions, as is the case in the non-application of
the label system, which should be complete and written in the Arabic
language. The same applies to the labeling of imports, which if properly
labeled according to the requirements of the law, would end the flow of
spoiled and expired goods and settlement products to the Palestinian
market.
Dr. Shuaibi: understanding the problem first
Dr. Shuaibi, General
Commissioner for Anti-
Corruption Affairs - AMAN, started the meeting noting
that the relationship between parties that are associated with the
protection of consumer is not clear due to the absence of a clear vision
on the nature of the problem and how to address it. He added that the
meeting comes with the aim of diagnosing the situation and developing
scenarios to address the problem, as well as defining the role of
various actors in addressing the problem and having a clear perspective
in order to develop a Palestinian policy for the protections of
consumers.
Additionally, Dr. Shuaibi noted that apart from the regulations of the
consumer protection law that are being worked out currently,
stockholders should identify not only their roles but also their needs
in order to be able to play their role professionally.
Application of relevant laws
Participants addressed the weakness of the deterrent and punitive aspect
of related laws, such as the consumer protection law, which considers
most of offenses as misdemeanors and not felonies. The same applies to
the Jordanian Penal Code that is currently in force which punishes for
most of the fraud crimes by simple correctional penalties. Some also
addressed the multiplicity of relevant agencies and conflict of
jurisdictions, and weak prospects of some of those actors, in terms of
both human or material potential that
enable
them to exercise their role as required.
Responsibility
of citizens as well ...
Dr. Mo’een Freihat, a representative of the Cabinet, emphasized that the
protection of consumers is the responsibility of every Palestinian
citizen, and not limited to the customs or the Ministry of Economy or
the Preventive Security, etc. ... . He added that if there is no
combination of joint efforts and development of clear policies and
mechanisms, this problem cannot be addressed.
Colonel Abu Ein, from the Preventive Security, spoke about the
vulnerability in the performance, the absence of law, disorder in the
general education, problems of crossing borders and goods produced by
settlements.
Major
Amin Tumeizi- Customs Police noted that there are pressures experienced
by the control and auditing agencies, resulting from a problem in the
judiciary that is instead of the adoption of the report of the control
officers, they are asked to attend the court as witnesses when a case is
filed at the judiciary.
Products’ fraud
Brigadier General Jaber Asfour, from the Palestinian police, addressed a
serious issue which is the fraud in some of the counterfeit products
that are not in conformity with the required specifications, as happened
recently when a fire took place in a house resulting in the death of
some persons. Relevant investigations revealed that the cause of the
fire was an electrical contact, due to the use of fake electric switches
that were examined and found to be not genuine and do not conform to the
safety requirements.
Deputy Minster of Economy, Mr. Abdul Hafeez Nofal, spoke about the
existence of a national committee to regulate the internal market. This
committee, that consists of the Ministry of Economy, the customs police,
the Consumer Protection Association, the Ministry of Health, the
Cabinet, the Preventive Security and the police, is concerned about
major issues on the protection, health and safety of the citizen, the
national product and creation of job opportunities.
A
clear reporting mechanism
Legislative Council member, Dr. Sahar Qawasmi, emphasized the need to
clarify a mechanism for reporting on the corruption-related situations
and to clarify the relevant procedures beginning from filing the
complaint till its arrival at the judiciary. She also stressed the
importance of controlling the source of goods, especially what comes
from settlements and the need to enforce compliance with any decisions
related to the prevention of bringing goods from settlements and
therefore the destruction of these goods.
Recommendations
The meeting concluded a number of recommendations that included
accelerating the adoption of regulations of the Consumer Protection Act,
and to accelerate the formation of the Palestinian Council for consumer
protection and consumer protection associations in accordance with the
law. The recommendations also included the need to work on coordinating
the effort through unified task forces, the need to provide essential
items to the control and inspection agencies, and the launch of a wide
media campaign on the protection of consumer with the participation of
all Palestinian parties, including the Ministry of Education and the
clergy. It was also recommended to consider with the prosecutors and the
judiciary the formation and the rehabilitation of a special prosecution
unit to pursue corruption-related cases, as well as the need to
establish a governmental body for bids and associating it with the
Cabinet. |
