2017 Activities

AMAN Holds a Workshop on the Effectiveness of Accountability in the Customer Protection Issues.. The workshop culminated in a call for establishing a high council for food and competent courts on economic crimes

AMAN Holds a Workshop on the Effectiveness of Accountability in the Customer Protection Issues.. The workshop culminated in a call for establishing a high council for food and competent courts on economic crimes

A constellation of specialists from the relevant institutions and ministries called for establishing a special tier of courts with a mandate to settle economic crimes, implement and develop the Palestinan Law on Standards and Specifications, and provide the laboratories, equipment, and qualified staff to ensure accurate results of testing practices.

By the same token, Dr. Sami Abu Shammala recommended in his research paper that the implementation of Palestinian laws be enforced duly. This call takes an added importance when it comes to the food and use of non-permitted food additives, especially, dangerous pesticides whose gravity goes beyond the farms to affect the customer health. Therefore, the paper recommended a competent summary court be established to address the violations of customer protection laws and regulations.

Furthermore, the paper recommended an implementation regulation be issued and annexed to the customer protection laws for further accountability; additional legislations be passed in pursuit of more immune customers against electronic fraud, deception and manipulation crimes, and last but not least, financial settlements be put to an end, for they have been proven ineffective in deterring noncompliant providers.
The participants also recommended a high council for food be established in partnership with the relevant authorities to ensure robust coordination and avoid fusion of powers. The staff working at the customer protection front should receive training to ensure effective accountability measures, and an adequate budget should be in place to reinforce of the customer protection function within the Ministry.

On her part, Hedaya Shamoon, AMAN Monitoring and Documentation Unitr coordinator, illustrated that the discussion was held to create a space for constructive discussion and status analysis in pursuit of a closer contact with and amongst the stakeholders. She also summed up AMAN’s plans during the rest of the year at two fronts. First, AMAN would spearhead lobbying and advocacy campaigns to raise the public awareness of their rights as customers and increase their accountability capacity. Second, AMAN would work on consolidating of the efforts devoted by all the stakeholders to address customer protection issues with a view of accomplishing the objectives and realizing the recommendations.

Wael Ba'alousha, AMAN Gaza Office Director, AMAN Gaza Office Director seized the occasion to shed the light on the problems facing customer protection practice in Palestine, including the lack of the capacity on the Ministry of National Economy’s part, the inadequacy of relevant staff, and ineffectiveness of the Palestinian customer protection organizations. What’s more, the paper has unveiled several failures in the execution practices and infrastructure, insufficiency of the supervisory role, and poor public responsiveness and engagement. These challenges are exacerbated by the persistent political chasm and the blockade of the Gaza Strip and their impact on the legislative system.

go top