Consumer Groups in Ghana Pledge a Unified Front

At the just-ended ISO-COPOLCO workshop in Accra on ‘Consumer Participation in Standardization’, the Consumer Movement set an objective that they believe will give Ghanaian consumers the boost of a unified front. The consumer organizations present included The Consumer Partnership, Consumer Advocacy Center, International Center for Consumer Issues and Advocacy, Consumer Protection Agency, Consumers Association of Ghana and a Public Interest Law Organization. The objective was to form a Federation of Ghanaian Consumers, Consumer Advocates and Consumer Organizations as an umbrella body with the core function of crystallizing consumer opinion through advocacy, research, lobbying and consumer education. Commenting on the proposal, Jean Lukaz, the National Expert in Consumer Issues in Standardization, indicated that this move was long overdue as it was last proposed in 2007 but leaders of Consumer Organizations present at the time did not express any interest in it for fear of losing control over their organizational spheres of influence. On the other hand, others had felt intimidated by the need for transparency that may be required by virtue of their membership of a federation. The present proposal was unanimously accepted and a maiden meeting was to be arranged to discuss and approve of the declarations, objectives and constitution of the newly proposed Federation and elect executives to lead it. It also came to light that consumer organizations could not seek business sponsorship nor receive financial assistance from political parties. Even government sponsorship of consumer organizations need to be scrutinized if it is foreseeable that the latter may later seek to influence their activities.

Consumers represent Ghana at Global Social Responsibility Confab

Copenhagen, May 18, 2010. The Consumer Partnership-Ghana- Proceedings of the 8th Plenary of the evolving International Guidance Standard on Social Responsibility (SR), ISO 26000, opened on Monday 15th May in Copenhagen with Ghana represented by Jean Lukaz, a consumer representative from The Consumer Partnership-Ghana. Ghana’s participation was facilitated by the Ghana Standards Board (GSB), which is the official representative of Ghana at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and ISO.

In January 2005, a Working Group was established within ISO, to develop an International Standard providing guidelines for Social Responsibility (SR). The objective was to produce a guidance document, written in plain language that is understandable and usable by non-specialists, and not a specification document intended for third party certification.

Relating the ISO 26000 guidance standard to the Ghana Business code Mr Lukaz commented that ISO 26000 covers more ground including consumer issues than the Ghana Business code, which is based in its entirety on the UN Global Compact.
Social responsibility has been dealt with extensively in the document to cover the seven core subjects of organizational governance, human rights, labour practices, the environment, fair operating practices, consumer issues, and community involvement and development.

Speaking on the relevance of the development of the guidance standard on SR, Jean Lukaz said, ‘the final document is intended to add value to, and not replace, existing inter-governmental agreements with relevance to social responsibility, such as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and those adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and that the standard should be usable for organizations of all sizes, in countries at every stage of development.’

He added that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has grown beyond traditional corporate philanthropy and sponsorships, and that it is about time industry in Ghana developed a strategic and integrated approach to CSR. Mr Lukaz emphasized that it would be more relevant for Ghana Club 100 to be using reporting on [C]SR in company annual reports as a criteria for selection.

At GSB a National Mirror Committee was formed comprising 6 key stakeholders from industry, government, labour, consumers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and service, support, research and others (SSRO) as required by ISO.

According to Jean Lukaz, Ghana’s participation in the final stage of the development of the guidance standard on Social Responsibility demonstrates the country’s commitment to creating an enabling business environment where not only the businesses are required to act responsibly but also consumers, communities, labour, civil society and government.

ISO 26000 will provide harmonized, globally relevant guidance based on international consensus among expert representatives of the main stakeholder groups and so encourage the implementation of social responsibility worldwide. The guidance in ISO 26000 draws on best practice developed by existing public and private sector SR initiatives and is intended to be useful to organizations large and small in both these sectors.

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Alata Samina: Soap or Drug?

By Jean Lukaz MIH

Reviews of certain local products by the Consumer Partnership (The COP) on the Ghanaian markets reveal a certain level of uncertainty regarding their classifications. This is particularly the case of plant-based products that are sometimes erroneously referred to as herbal products but actually have no herbal basis for that description after they lose their herbal properties after being processed. It is even more complicated when the labelling of such products contain claims as to their potency in treating certain medical conditions.

Alata samina has been the worst offender so far with many that have been exported to the US rejected and returned on the basis that Alata Samina is a drug and not soap based on the claims on the labels, and therefore the need to certify them in Ghana as drugs.

Even some of the ‘improved’ versions of Alata Samina have the pharmaceutical plus sign on the labels and many are questionning to what extent some of these claims can be considered deceptive, given the local acceptance of Alata Samina as having medicinal properties.

Expert opinion from the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) indicate that Alata Samina can neither be referred to as ‘Herbal Soap’ as the initial herbal ingredients lose their herbal properties after the processing and the final product is just ordinary local soap that can neither be considered medicinal by technical standards, otherwise it has to be proven so and certified as a drug by the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) too.

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Consumer Protection: A Panacea For Shoddy Goods & Services?

by Jean Lukaz

Pundits in Ghana have always pointed fingers at the ineffectiveness of consumer protection associations in the country in the face of the proliferation of shoddy goods and services. Why consumers are thinking along these lines are a wonder. It is as if consumer protection will get into factories and offices and literally rid the country of this menace.  On the other hand, consumer activism stimulates the market to provide products, processes and services that are better and safer.

Hard or Soft Power?

Consumer protection is not about hard power, the use of physical force. It is rather on the contrary. It is about soft power: dialogue, persuasion, understanding, and joint action by consumers, producers and the government. Hard consumer power rather alienates consumers and consumer activists from the government and producers of goods and services. It is in this light that some people feel that lawyers are probably the best activists when it comes to consumer protection but let’s get this right: is consumer protection about litigation and legal threats? Consumers are generally assumed to be laymen, otherwise irrational in their thinking when they are uninformed. The aim of consumer protection is to present safe products and services in plain lay universal language that is understandable by all so that consumers will put products and services to the right use for which they were purposed.

The Weapon

Consumers are not specialists but in consumption. And the only adverse way consumers react is by way of complaints and boycott. An influx of complaints on a particular product or service is an alarm bell and a call to action. Action is not necessarily litigation, which rather ends up antagonising producers of goods and services. Action is about alerting the producer who may not even be aware of the impact of their products on consumers. Complaints, by way of feedback, arm consumers with the reason to proceed to the next level in case of inaction on the part of producers. When consumer complaints are met with arrogance and denials, industry associations are the next places to visit with the complaints. Consumers may collectively channel their complaints through a consumer protection association or other and request for feedback on the action that will be taken by the industry association within a specified timeframe. Where the industry association compromises or is ineffective, the regulator of the industry is the next point of call and consumers may well put their complaints and grievances in writing even after verbally doing so. One would ask about what to do if the regulator fails to act…in that case there is something definitely wrong with the whole process of consumer complaints management process in the industry or country. This requires a microscopic examination of the structures that have been established to give consumers their value for money. The lawsuit is the last resort if you have the money to bring commercial giants into the courtroom. It may not be worth your complaint to sue unless it is intended to generate negative publicity for the producer in order to sensitise the public about their insensitivity.

The Practicals

To put the above into practice, if you are aggrieved for buying a faulty new automobile and the seller or distributor refuses to repair or replace it, you just make sure you put your complaint or grievance into writing and copy it to a consumer protection association such as The Consumer Partnership (THE-COP). The next step is to send another letter on how you have been treated unfairly by the distributor and what action you request to the Automobile Distributors Association (if there is any), attaching a copy of your previous letter to the distributor. Make sure a copy of this letter is also sent to the consumer protection association that received your first letter (this will help them to monitor and fight on your behalf where the occasion arises). If the industry association in question compromises or does not act on your complaint after the timeframe you requested expires (unless they reply to explain) you then proceed to the regulator of the automobile industry in Ghana: I’m not sure who does…Where there is no regulator or a national consumer ombudsman, the Ministry of Trade in this case may be the next point of contact with your new complaint letter detailing the various actions you have taken that have not received any attention and what action you are requesting. Remember to copy this final letter to your correspondent consumer protection association and attach copies of all correspondence to the Ministry of Trade including relevant receipts and contracts (do not send original copies). If the Ministry fails to respond without explanation within a timeframe it is time to talk to some litigant lawyers. In Ghana the Centre for Public Interest Law (CEPIL) may be of help. They may however take a commission from your claim for their effort even if you do not pay any fees initially. Remember the media at this stage but consult the consumer protection association first as they may give your story the right twist. Other consumers will definitely need to share your experience with such an arrogant distributor so they may not fall victim to their wiles.

To Be or Not to Be?

The question under review here is: Does consumer protection bring sanity into a system? The answer may be a yes and no depending on where you are coming from. If you are coming from the USA, where industry regulation is quite effective, then Ralph Nader has already done most of the work so the answer may be a yes. If you are fortunate to come from Ghana, where regulation of industry is rather ineffective, the answer is a big NO! Consumer protection is just one of the answers and its effectiveness is dependent on a number of factors.

Competition, regulation and standards all go hand in hand in giving consumer protection a boost.

Competition forces otherwise producers of shoddy goods and services to put their best before consumers in order to win a market share. Competition, in the face of the market forces of demand and supply, keeps the best actors in business whilst phasing out the bad and ugly. Lack of competition gives consumers no alternatives to substitute shoddy goods and services for as a monopolistic environment may not be a fertile ground for consumer protection fundamentalism.

Regulation outlines legal norms for those in industry and is bound by law that is mandatorily enforced. The contents of regulations are usually a prerequisite for entry into the industry and pre-establish conformity. However, poor regulation is an epitome of a porous enforcement mechanism and corrupted enforcement agents. In a system where there is virtually no enforcement, there is usually a lack of consumer confidence and consumers may resign to their fate. Consumers in such a system will not formally complain as it ridicules them and makes a mockery of the process and will, thus, become apathetic to the activities of consumer protection associations. Complaints are then replaced with word of mouth moaning to friends and relatives. 

Standards when mandatory are part of regulation and provide an automatic platform for consumer satisfaction. Standards are ‘…rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context’ (ISO/IEC Guide 2). Standards may also be voluntary whereby members of a body establish a code of conduct to guide their operations. Recognition may be in the form of the use of a well-recognised quality mark or trustmark. Companies and individuals use and adhere to standards voluntarily, or because they are required to by law. When compliance with a standard is not mandated by law, companies and individuals follow the terms of the standards simply because it is in their interest to do so — standards improve the quality of products, processes or services, reassure customers and open up markets. The terms of standards may also be incorporated into government statutes and regulations, in which case companies and individuals must follow them as a matter of law. In some cases, governments initiate and participate in standards development so the standard can be included in legislation. In other cases, governments find that an existing standard can be used to deal with a public policy problem and include it in new legislation.

Complaints, in the face of standards, are also endemic in an environment characterised by corruption, non-conformity and non-enforcement of standards. Consumers, acting rationally, would want the best products and services at the least cost that is readily available. Thus, consumers would look out for certain elements that have been traditionally infused into standards such as health and safety, fitness for purpose (performance), product information and labelling, environmental protection, fair pricing, interoperability (ability of a product to be used in different countries and within a product range) and systems of redress. However, oblivious to the prevalence of shoddy goods and services, consumers may also presume that all products and services on offer are safe for their use- a danger to their health and safety.

So if you find yourself in a country where competition is virtually non-existent, regulation lacks enforcement and where standards are not really working, the only way forward is consumer participation in standardization. When consumers are represented in the standards-making process, their views are taken into account and it subsequently forms an automatic basis for consumer satisfactions albeit this will still require a stringent enforcement mechanism to be manifest.

Consumer participation is also beneficial for manufacturers, because goods and services that adopt standards developed with consumer participation may be more easily accepted in the marketplace.

 

Published in Public Agenda on 11th December, 2006: www.ghanaweb.com/public_agenda

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