Legislation for consumers' protection should be made in Sindh on the pattern of Consumers Protection Act already introduced and implemented in the three province of the country. This was demanded by Kaukab Iqbal, Chairman Consumers Association of Pakistan (CAP) while addressing the "6th Consumer Choice Award" distribution ceremony held here at a local hotel on Thursday.
He said that Consumer Protection Act had already been passed and implemented in three provinces and the same should be enacted and enforced in Sindh to protect the rights of consumers. Kaukab said that main objectives of annual Choice Award Ceremony was to develop healthy social environment for consumers, traders & industrialists, to improve the relationship between consumers, goods manufacturers and promote quality of goods and services, besides creating awareness about misleading advertisements.
He stated that an international Consumer Expo would be held soon in which consumers would be provided quality products at affordable prices. Kaukab Iqbal said that CAP was doing preparatory works to issue Consumers Discount Cards to enable the consumers to get 10 to 15 percent discount on prices with the help of government and reputed companies. Giving details about the awards, Kaukab Iqbal said that CCA would only be given to quality manufacturers and service providers.
He said a panel of expert identified various products and goods for the award while CAP's survey team conduct survey throughout the year to gather consumers' opinion. The specialty of this award is that the product creating health hazards are not at all considered for the award. Addressing the ceremony, Muhammad Junaid Qureshi from Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) said that in a recently conducted laboratory test 39 out of 80 samples of different products were tested substandard. He underlined the need of creating awareness among public and enforcement of consumers' laws for ensuring the quality of different products.
Talking about the standards of import/export items, he said PSQCA had recently inked an agreement with Saudi Arabia to maintain required quality of the trading items. W. G Lassa, Consul General of Seri Lanka in Karachi, on the occasions said that the whole society needed to be conscious about the standard of products they consume daily.
Leading businessman S M Munir said that substandard items were being used at large quantity in the country especially in big cities without any check by the concerned authorities. Prominent industrialist Mian Zahid Hussain also spoke on the occasion.
Comments
Comments are closed.