by Jean Lukaz MIH,MTS
To say that government is not serious about Consumer Protection is tautology. To fathom that Consumer Protection Laws are a palliative for consumer problems is tautology. To state categorically that Consumer Protection Laws are the disease of the cure is tautology. To contemplate that Consumer Protection Laws are a panacea for consumer problems is tantamount to condoning fraud…and standards are not a topical anaesthesia for surgical equity in the marketplace but rather a bitter pill for both unethical businesses and irresponsible consumers to swallow in order to heal them from within.
In the second episode of the first of his four lectures of the 2012 BBC Reith Lectures entitled “The Human Hive: the Rule of Law and its Enemies,” Professor Niall Ferguson, an economic historian, professor of history at Harvard, and a fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, makes a number of observations regarding consumer protection, which the writer shares.
In his discourse, Niall Fergusson identified 'misconceived regulation' and the 'failure to apply regulation and the law' as one of the troubling aspects of Consumer Protection. All the detailed regulation in the world would not do much to solve consumer problems unless the immediacy of enforcement presents a ‘clear and present danger’ to unscrupulous businessmen and unethical businesses.
Infinitesimal Consumers
Just within the month of June 2012 the confidence of a physically challenged was shaken at the court of law in Ghana when the very presiding judge ruling on his case came in pomp, éclat and plaudit to set him aside up the staircase for His Majesty’s passage to the second floor courtroom. The judge’s cortege of police officers and court clerks bawled at this poor victim, a consumer of the Disability Law, to give way to His Majesty without the exercise of any humility, compassion and mercy on the practically useless Disability Law in this case. If the courtroom, where the law is served to consumers is not disabled-friendly, what is the usefulness of the effect of the Disability Act? This poor consumer wished ‘His Majesty’s pomp was brought down to the grave, and the noise of His viols:…that the worm was spread under Him, and the worms covered Him’[Isa 14:11 KJV].
Darwinian Economy
The much delayed Consumer Protection Bill, however yet to be conceived, has given much utopian expectancy to Ghanaian consumers in spite of the weak institutional regulation of the already existing laws. Given that we are in an ‘Election Year,’ the most unpopular government achievement would be to promulgate a Consumer Protection Law that could tighten up businesses, which in no doubt covertly sponsor politics and political parties. The consequential result will end in these businesses tightening up their political sponsorship and, practically, no government would wish to be the hero in this consumer epic, irrespective of political leaning.
That is not to say that it is inconsistent to suppose that consumers cannot have laws and rights in their favour. If the Hobbesian world dictates that law picks on rights [which are based on personal or civil liberties] and commands them, then where the law does not pick on rights the latter could have a problem with enforcement in law. That is to say that consumer protection laws that are not derived from basic consumer rights render consumer rights as mere consumer liberties, natural or moral as they may appear. Businesses may promote their rights in competition laws but at the same time seek their liberties when it comes to consumer protection laws. To recapitulate Thomas Hobbes, Consumer Rights are not Consumer Protection Laws. Consumer Protection Laws impose duties and responsibilities on businesses and the government while being preventive, whereby, they protect consumers from deception and fraud. If businesses fear the impact of rights-based consumer protection laws they will have the propensity to stall any processes intended to promote consumer protection legislation.
Consumer Liberties
If the rule of law, a state of order in which events conform to the law is paramount to the protection of consumers, perceiving consumer rights as akin to property rights that can be bought and sold is a no brainer. Whether the rule of property (property rights) or the rule of lawyers (rule of law) prevails, consumer rights are irrevocably not negotiable instruments subject to regulated or free market trading. Alluding to the rule of property is to swing between Karl Marx’s ‘Capital’ and Hernando de Soto’s ‘Mystery of Capital’. If rights are considered only within the context of positive rights as recognized within municipal or international legal systems, then they are premised on the rule of law from whence lawyers are premised on rights defence, according to Niall Fergusson. Consumer rights then are premised on rights defence. Thus, if consumer protection laws are not formulated on the basis of consumer rights giving grounds for their defence in a court of law, consumers, consumer rights and consumer protection laws will become an entertaining circus of clowns, tamed animals and fleeting illusionism.
Dinosaur Businesses & Regulatory Expropriation
The most important and cardinal of consumer rights border on basic needs such as water, electricity, public transportation, telecommunications, access to finance and credit, are in majority monopolized by companies with a lion’s share of state ownership that are apt to err with a political veil and a duplicity of unapprehensive state regulation in the financial sector. In the case of water and electricity, at least, without regard to the law of unintended consequences, the Managing Director could publicly boast of consumers’ inability to obtain redress from the courts of law. Consumers, eventually, are the beasts of burden and the victims that bear their leaven of waste and inefficiency on their consumer monthly bills.
In their frustration, consumers and their attempts at accumulating capital as would-be entrepreneurs could be as revolutionary as the trigger of the ‘Arab Spring’ against such injustice and consumer-unfriendly rent-seeking capitalist government-majority companies: “26-year-old Tarek Mohamed Bouazizi, burned himself to death in front of the governor’s offices in the town of Sidi Bouzid last December 2010, precisely an hour after a policewoman, backed by two municipal officers, had confiscated his only capital: two crates of pears, a crate of bananas, three crates of apples and a second-hand electronic weight scale worth around $180. His self-immolation sparked a revolution.”
Consumer Protection in Ghana is, eventually, becoming an enemy of the rule of law.
The Jungle
Consumer Rights under the law of nature may be rather personal liberties. Consumer rights are not naturally endowed as to constitute an inherent enforceability. It is undeniable that consumers in any society are born free and endowed with natural rights. The unscrupulous businessman is also born free just as corrupt enforcement officers of weak regulatory institutions and they all have rights endowed by nature. The right of choice, for example, was given man from creation with a caveat: the right to choose good or evil. Man by nature, endowed with rights but free to choose, broke the law meant to protect him from making the wrong choices. If natural moral laws were enough for the self-preservation of consumers there would be no need for consumer protection laws, a reflection of God’s commandment to the first man “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die [Gen 2:16-17 KJV].” If this should be deemed natural law as deriving from natural rights, then natural laws are meant to institutionalize natural rights. A free-born consumer endowed with natural rights will not live to see the force of these rights under the Rule of Law. This means that enforcement of rights as privileges is only possible when there are rights-based laws to go with them. But laws of nature do find their place in consumer protection but not explicitly reflected in the globally accepted consumer rights.
Consumer Education rather constitutes self-preservation without the influence of government or peer pressure from civil society than ‘objective-social-collectivist’ rights. However, some consumer rights are constitutional in that government has a responsibility to provide, for example, basic needs to her citizens, who are consumers of public goods and services. The Constitution, some believe, does not reinvent the wheel but rather turns it as Sarah Palin – neither philosopher nor theorist -- muses: “The Constitution didn’t give us our rights. Our rights came from God, and they’re inalienable. The Constitution created a national government to protect our God-given, unalienable rights.” Nevertheless, consumer rights are unenforceable in law unless backed by consumer protection laws. A worst case is consumer rights in international relations and international law, where industry (businesses) refuse to accept the existence of such rights if they are not explicitly backed by international law, another version of Ayn Rand’s circular theory of ‘objective-social-collectivist’ rights.
Showing posts with label Consumer Protection Ghana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Consumer Protection Ghana. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Ghana: Thick-Skin Consumer Protection
By Jean Lukaz MIH, MTS
Where there is no consumer protection law, it does not really make a difference when you are living in the jungle. In such an evolutionary environment in nature’s farm, everyone develops a thick skin: from the elephant to the cockerel to the umbrella tree and even to the eagle.
In a dog-eat-dog world, consumers in the Third World and in some advanced countries are only protected by their own immune systems other than external Machiavellian forces that only militate against them in the end.
What is Consumer Protection in the absence of a backing law and self-motivated civil society organizations?
In Platonic and Machiavellian terms, having the appearance of Consumer Protection than the reality of its existence in the manifestation of laws and institutions and the apprehension thereof has become the present predicament of Ghana and Ghanaian consumers. Weak government institutions and the semblance of regulatory enforcement and their reality as lame ducks have become the enemies of both Consumer Protection and the rule of law.
Anyone used to mosquito bites is likely to be living in a developing country. In the same manner consumers that are exposed to most consumer problems are dwellers of developing countries, most likely to be citizens of a utopian Consumers’ Commonwealth for the Anglophones and anglophiles or a politically assimilated DOM-TOMs, for the Francophones, including francophiles.
Let us do some scuba diving by making a naïve observation of the naked perambulating ‘traditional madman’ in Ghana, who is discarded by psychiatry, that prowl the cities reclaiming the streets, excepting the environs of the heavily guarded ghost haunted Fortress Ghana that is ironically fully exposed on Google Earth considering that even Diplomatic Missions have been heavily smudged beyond detection and their coordinates undeclared.
Our traditional madman, like the moon, goes round and comes around in many forms: sometimes as a consumer, sometimes as a manufacturer, wholesaler, seller or service provider and at times as the government.
In retrospect, Consumer Protection has evolved in all forms in Ghana: sometimes in the form of political persecution or public scourging in the name of ‘Kalabule’ [consumer rip-off], or price control laws in a quasi-communist milit-o-cracy determined by Machiavellian ‘armed prophecy’.
Given this status quo, Ghanaian consumers have been anaesthetised by rhetoric, breakdown in the rule of law, deceptive appearances and empty pre-election promises ever unfulfilled.
The aforementioned traditional madman sleeps in the streets in rain or shine, fully exposed to the capricious elements and most importantly, to zillions mosquito bites yet he hardly contracts malaria. Is it because he has become immune to the bites of this minuscule vampire bearing leviathan parasites of political lies and unscrupulous business exploitation or is it because malaria is only a condition of the mind far from a disease?
Whether in limbo or out on a limb the Ghanaian consumer, it appears, has developed a thick skin. After all, regulatory enforcement institutions can be simulated as distinguished consorts of unscrupulous businesses. To put your faith in them ‘It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite:…’ [Isa 29:8 KJV].
To cry ‘Consumer Protection’ is all a vexation of the spirit and a chase after the wind, a Hobbesian attitude to life as a consumer in ‘the state of nature,’ in the absence of authority and the law:
“…think about how you behave: when going on a journey, you arm yourself, and try not to go alone; when going to sleep, you lock your doors; even inside your own house you lock your chests; and you do all this when you know that there are laws, and armed public officers of the law, to revenge any harms that are done to you. Ask yourself: what opinion do you have of your fellow subjects when you ride armed? Of your fellow citizens when you lock your doors? Of your children and servants when you lock your chests? In all this, don’t you accuse mankind as much by your actions as I do by my words? Actually, neither of us is criticizing man’s nature. The desires and other passions of men aren’t sinful in themselves. Nor are actions that come from those passions, until those who act know a law that forbids them; they can’t know this until laws are made; and they can’t be made until men agree on the person who is to make them. But why try to demonstrate to learned men something that is known even to dogs who bark at visitors—sometimes indeed only at strangers but in the night at everyone?” [Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, XIII, ‘The natural condition of mankind as concerning their happiness and misery’]
Where there is no consumer protection law, it does not really make a difference when you are living in the jungle. In such an evolutionary environment in nature’s farm, everyone develops a thick skin: from the elephant to the cockerel to the umbrella tree and even to the eagle.
In a dog-eat-dog world, consumers in the Third World and in some advanced countries are only protected by their own immune systems other than external Machiavellian forces that only militate against them in the end.
What is Consumer Protection in the absence of a backing law and self-motivated civil society organizations?
In Platonic and Machiavellian terms, having the appearance of Consumer Protection than the reality of its existence in the manifestation of laws and institutions and the apprehension thereof has become the present predicament of Ghana and Ghanaian consumers. Weak government institutions and the semblance of regulatory enforcement and their reality as lame ducks have become the enemies of both Consumer Protection and the rule of law.
Anyone used to mosquito bites is likely to be living in a developing country. In the same manner consumers that are exposed to most consumer problems are dwellers of developing countries, most likely to be citizens of a utopian Consumers’ Commonwealth for the Anglophones and anglophiles or a politically assimilated DOM-TOMs, for the Francophones, including francophiles.
Let us do some scuba diving by making a naïve observation of the naked perambulating ‘traditional madman’ in Ghana, who is discarded by psychiatry, that prowl the cities reclaiming the streets, excepting the environs of the heavily guarded ghost haunted Fortress Ghana that is ironically fully exposed on Google Earth considering that even Diplomatic Missions have been heavily smudged beyond detection and their coordinates undeclared.
Our traditional madman, like the moon, goes round and comes around in many forms: sometimes as a consumer, sometimes as a manufacturer, wholesaler, seller or service provider and at times as the government.
In retrospect, Consumer Protection has evolved in all forms in Ghana: sometimes in the form of political persecution or public scourging in the name of ‘Kalabule’ [consumer rip-off], or price control laws in a quasi-communist milit-o-cracy determined by Machiavellian ‘armed prophecy’.
Given this status quo, Ghanaian consumers have been anaesthetised by rhetoric, breakdown in the rule of law, deceptive appearances and empty pre-election promises ever unfulfilled.
The aforementioned traditional madman sleeps in the streets in rain or shine, fully exposed to the capricious elements and most importantly, to zillions mosquito bites yet he hardly contracts malaria. Is it because he has become immune to the bites of this minuscule vampire bearing leviathan parasites of political lies and unscrupulous business exploitation or is it because malaria is only a condition of the mind far from a disease?
Whether in limbo or out on a limb the Ghanaian consumer, it appears, has developed a thick skin. After all, regulatory enforcement institutions can be simulated as distinguished consorts of unscrupulous businesses. To put your faith in them ‘It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite:…’ [Isa 29:8 KJV].
To cry ‘Consumer Protection’ is all a vexation of the spirit and a chase after the wind, a Hobbesian attitude to life as a consumer in ‘the state of nature,’ in the absence of authority and the law:
“…think about how you behave: when going on a journey, you arm yourself, and try not to go alone; when going to sleep, you lock your doors; even inside your own house you lock your chests; and you do all this when you know that there are laws, and armed public officers of the law, to revenge any harms that are done to you. Ask yourself: what opinion do you have of your fellow subjects when you ride armed? Of your fellow citizens when you lock your doors? Of your children and servants when you lock your chests? In all this, don’t you accuse mankind as much by your actions as I do by my words? Actually, neither of us is criticizing man’s nature. The desires and other passions of men aren’t sinful in themselves. Nor are actions that come from those passions, until those who act know a law that forbids them; they can’t know this until laws are made; and they can’t be made until men agree on the person who is to make them. But why try to demonstrate to learned men something that is known even to dogs who bark at visitors—sometimes indeed only at strangers but in the night at everyone?” [Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, XIII, ‘The natural condition of mankind as concerning their happiness and misery’]
Sunday, March 11, 2012
My Warranty Experience@Compu-Ghana
By Jean Lukaz MIH, MTS
After a colleague was ripped off at AFTECH Computers in Accra and managed to get his money back, a comparative shopping exercise finally landed us at Compu-Ghana. This was after we had made a trial run to Starlite Computers and Dealer Computers, both at Osu. The wet paint on the wall of the staircase at Dealer Computers warned me after a stain in my suit, the only sure notice of opening hours painting. A soft-spoken boss named Ahmed could only apologise and infuriate us at the same time by showing us a similar stain in his shirt by way of asking us to shut up. Well, someone else deserved our cash of GH¢1,500.00 so we voted with our feet. He only reminded us of the ventriloquist Jeff Dunham’s comic character.
It appeared that Compu-Ghana had more to offer in terms of choice and budget. All was well till we were asked to pay for the Intel i5 Toshiba Satellite laptop, then the trigger of events began. When we asked to see what we were paying for to be sure, the sales folk were bewildered by the two gentlemen in suits that seemed to know their rights more than the rest of their clients. Why consumers are required to pay for their laptop while it is being removed from some warehouse is a case of ‘buying a pig in a poke’. A young gentleman later on appeared with a packaging in his arms, ‘Here you are, Sirs.’ And how do we know it is what we selected? The receipt only bore the code of the Toshiba Satellite Laptop without the specifications. I could not be bothered as my next move was to ask them to switch the machine on so we could verify the specs.
The answer actually required a trip to the Compu-Ghana Service Center located in the backyard. The reason for the trip was actually for software to be installed without our prior consent and not to answer our prying consumer savvy. The boss of the Service Centre treats every suit-bearing consumer as naïve and you could not blame her for that though. She has acquired her attitude through experience. She hastily filled in a Warranty Card for us to sign expecting some excitement from our end for their after-sales ‘irresponsibilities’.
Having chaired the ISO-COPOLCO Task Group on Warranties, I had just been given my favourite horse to ride. In fact, the Warranty Card of Compu-Ghana is a self-inflicting wound and tantamount to an unjust law and an unconscionable contract: it offers no warranty at all! What freaked me out was a clause dubbed ‘DOA’ [Dead On Arrival]—it reminded me of the morgue and the Death Certificates they issue to relatives of the deceased.
Wherever Compu-Ghana copied their warranty card details from, it was certainly not drafted by an expert. They have a new vocabulary ‘warranttee’ that requires certification, probably by the Ghana Standards Authority. The following Compu-Ghana-branded items were found in the non-biodegradable carrier bag:
1. a laptop bag,
2. a 2GB flash drive,
3. a mouse with retractable cable and
4. a rent-a-Skype headset.
However, clause 13 of their ‘warrantee’ does not cover any of these ‘gifts’. Clause 14 does not cover problems related to the software they installed at the Service Center but the consumer is not alerted to that for their prior consent. The Service Center staff asked if she could dispose of the card box packaging but when I inquired whether the very packaging will be required for claims against warranty her answer was affirmative.
It also appears that an unlimited warranty too-good-to-be-true is always a rip-off in disguise…ask AFTECH Computers!
After a colleague was ripped off at AFTECH Computers in Accra and managed to get his money back, a comparative shopping exercise finally landed us at Compu-Ghana. This was after we had made a trial run to Starlite Computers and Dealer Computers, both at Osu. The wet paint on the wall of the staircase at Dealer Computers warned me after a stain in my suit, the only sure notice of opening hours painting. A soft-spoken boss named Ahmed could only apologise and infuriate us at the same time by showing us a similar stain in his shirt by way of asking us to shut up. Well, someone else deserved our cash of GH¢1,500.00 so we voted with our feet. He only reminded us of the ventriloquist Jeff Dunham’s comic character.
It appeared that Compu-Ghana had more to offer in terms of choice and budget. All was well till we were asked to pay for the Intel i5 Toshiba Satellite laptop, then the trigger of events began. When we asked to see what we were paying for to be sure, the sales folk were bewildered by the two gentlemen in suits that seemed to know their rights more than the rest of their clients. Why consumers are required to pay for their laptop while it is being removed from some warehouse is a case of ‘buying a pig in a poke’. A young gentleman later on appeared with a packaging in his arms, ‘Here you are, Sirs.’ And how do we know it is what we selected? The receipt only bore the code of the Toshiba Satellite Laptop without the specifications. I could not be bothered as my next move was to ask them to switch the machine on so we could verify the specs.
The answer actually required a trip to the Compu-Ghana Service Center located in the backyard. The reason for the trip was actually for software to be installed without our prior consent and not to answer our prying consumer savvy. The boss of the Service Centre treats every suit-bearing consumer as naïve and you could not blame her for that though. She has acquired her attitude through experience. She hastily filled in a Warranty Card for us to sign expecting some excitement from our end for their after-sales ‘irresponsibilities’.
Having chaired the ISO-COPOLCO Task Group on Warranties, I had just been given my favourite horse to ride. In fact, the Warranty Card of Compu-Ghana is a self-inflicting wound and tantamount to an unjust law and an unconscionable contract: it offers no warranty at all! What freaked me out was a clause dubbed ‘DOA’ [Dead On Arrival]—it reminded me of the morgue and the Death Certificates they issue to relatives of the deceased.
Wherever Compu-Ghana copied their warranty card details from, it was certainly not drafted by an expert. They have a new vocabulary ‘warranttee’ that requires certification, probably by the Ghana Standards Authority. The following Compu-Ghana-branded items were found in the non-biodegradable carrier bag:
1. a laptop bag,
2. a 2GB flash drive,
3. a mouse with retractable cable and
4. a rent-a-Skype headset.
However, clause 13 of their ‘warrantee’ does not cover any of these ‘gifts’. Clause 14 does not cover problems related to the software they installed at the Service Center but the consumer is not alerted to that for their prior consent. The Service Center staff asked if she could dispose of the card box packaging but when I inquired whether the very packaging will be required for claims against warranty her answer was affirmative.
It also appears that an unlimited warranty too-good-to-be-true is always a rip-off in disguise…ask AFTECH Computers!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Towards A Rights-Based Consumer Protection Law for Ghana
By Jean Lukaz MIH
Ghana, while still embarking on the necessary steps towards a new consumer protection law, cannot presently boast of consumer protection legislation but rather a number of legislations that deal with consumer protection issues. The lack of a comprehensive consumer protection law is often to be blamed on defective national trade policies that have evolved over the years.
According to the Ministry of Trade, the Ghana Trade Policy approved by Cabinet in 2004 is set within the context of Ghana’s long-term strategic goal of achieving middle-income status and becoming a leading agro-industrial country in Africa. It was designed to provide the Ministry with clear guidelines for implementing Government’s domestic and international trade agenda as well as ensure a consistent and stable policy environment within which the private sector can operate with certainty. To ensure that these policy objectives are met through the structured implementation of policy prescriptions, a detailed implementation blueprint – the Trade Sector Support Programme (TSSP) - was developed and launched in February 2005. It details out specific activities in 10 thematic areas (which together contain 27 sub-projects) to be undertaken annually for the achievement of the policy prescriptions contained in the Ghana Trade Policy.
The fundamental principle underlying the Trade Policy Is that the private sector is the engine of growth, with Government providing a trade enabling environment to actively stimulate private sector initiatives. This is to be achieved through the full spectrum of trade policy instruments across the ten (10) thematic areas that have been the basis of the Ghana Trade Policy objectives.
The new Ghana consumer protection law is to be based on the Consumer Protection Policy as captured in the Ghana Trade Policy with the sub-themes of Consumer Protection, Health and Safety of Consumers, Economic Interests of Consumers, Access to Adequate Information, Consumption and the Environment, Consumer Representation, Competition Policy and Government Procurement. Short of a single fundamental objective, the new consumer law must ensure a fair and transparent market place in which the rights of consumers are recognized and protected. Protecting consumers’ economic interests is as important as regulation to ensure that the goods and services are available at a reasonable price and are safe.
Ghana being a Third World country, the problems of consumers are more related to the provision of essential services such as drinking water, sanitation, education and health care, than the market-related ones. The new consumer protection law must give special attention to the basic needs of disadvantaged consumers, in both rural and urban areas, including low-income consumers, and those with very low levels of literacy. It must clearly spell out the rights of consumers and the responsibilities of suppliers of goods or services and regulate all aspects of the purchasing cycle for goods and services, from the advertising or marketing of products, the sale of goods, full disclosure of product or service information to consumers, the terms and conditions of contracts and after-sales services including the respect of guarantees and warranties, refund and return policies. The Ghana Consumer Protection Law must integrate the universally accepted consumer rights into law by referring, implicitly or explicitly, to eight specific consumer rights, namely:
1. The Right to Basic needs
2. The Right to Safety
3. The Right to Information
4. The Right to Choice
5. The Right to Representation
6. The Right to Redress
7. The Right to Consumer Education
8. The Right to Healthy Environment
As constitutions of countries have evolved to reflect a citizens’ rights-based approach, so are consumer protection laws. The Consumer Protection Law for Ghana must move beyond mere consolidation of scattered sectoral laws and regulations to crystallizing and reforming consumer rights as enshrined in the various laws of Ghana as well as fair trading regulations.
This will ensure an easily-accessible, consumer-friendly, cross-cutting, rights-based approach to the development of a single, comprehensive legal framework for consumer protection. As the review of existing laws is inevitable considering that there are a number of obsolete consumer protection provisions that need to reflect modern consumer economics It should not be a mere major review of commercial and fair trade laws but must make provision for the drafting of new ones. It must cover much ground to the extent of providing for future innovative business fraud schemes and unfair trade practices.
Many developing countries on the various continents such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Botswana, Uganda, Malawi and South Africa have moved towards a comprehensive rights-based approach to their development of legislation for consumer protection that was guided by the UN Guidelines for consumer protection under the themes of Physical Safety, Economic Interests, Standards, Essential Goods and Services, Redress, Education and Information, and Health.
Beyond the establishment of a Consumer Protection Authority and Small Claims Courts, the Ghana Consumer Protection Law must move for the creation of the necessary institutions to take care of general consumer rights, product quality and safety and the specialized area of financial services that will all strengthen the Consumer Protection Regime such as a Consumer Product Safety Commission and a Consumer Financial Protection Commission.
As consumer groups in Ghana are moving for the new consumer protection law, which they believe will protect Ghanaian consumers, the Consumer Partnership is of the opinion that given the present environment of lack of legal enforcement compounded by a lacunae of resources, a new act of law is no guarantee of better consumer protection although it could be a first step in the process. The Consumer Partnership also believes that some of the voluntary standards developed by the Ghana Standards Board, such as the Advertising Code must be passed into law making reference to it as a Legislative Instrument (LI).
Consumer Protection is not a one-way street and requires consumers to act responsibly as no quantum of protection can secure irresponsible consumers. Consumer Protection is a process that involves consumers, service providers, producers and the government in a blend of roles and responsibilities. Thus, a working definition of Consumer Protection proposed by the Consumer Partnership given this background should include
‘the responsible ethical behaviour of consumers, producers or service providers in the respective buying and selling of products or services and the effective control of the marketplace by the government through the enforcement of laws and regulations, the promotion of standards and the dissemination consumer education.’
This presupposes that for consumer protection to exist, prevail, and be effective, the following conditions must be satisfied:
1. Consumers must be aware of their rights and responsibilities
2. Consumers must be responsible in the exercise of their rights
3. Consumers must be aware of the ethical consequences of their consumption
4. Producers and Service Providers must be responsible for the consequences of selling shoddy goods and services
5. Producers and Service Providers must be ethical in the conduct of their business
6. Government must regulate the marketplace through policy, laws and regulations
7. Government must exercise its responsibility of promoting standards, Consumer Education and Consumer Protection through an Ombudsman and other supporting agencies.
Of critical importance is the essence of Consumer and Business Education as a government responsibility even with the enactment of a new consumer protection law. Consumers need consumer education to build their capacity to act as rational and responsible consumers in the market place; Businesspersons need consumer education to build their capacity to become ethical businesspersons, to serve consumer interest, satisfaction and well‐being for a profit, rather than to profiteer from them; and Manufacturers need consumer education to build their capacity to become ethical manufacturers to serve consumer interest, satisfaction and well‐being, also for a profit and not mislead consumers to profiteer from them.
The actions of educated consumers and responsible businesses are often highly effective in minimising the harm caused by shoddy services and unsafe products. More importantly, they do so in a way that poses the least obstacles to business activity and to the ability of consumers to choose the goods and services that they prefer.
Responsible businesses go to considerable lengths to ensure that the products which they market are safe for consumers and that consumers are provided with sufficient information to use products safely. Many Ghanaian consumers take for granted that they need to educate themselves about the safety characteristics of the products which they purchase.
In their own bid to protect themselves, Ghanaian consumers need a set of tools to equip themselves with knowledge for their own safety. These tools of self-protection include protecting and optimizing their limited resources, avoiding product misuse, seeking information on products before buying them, using their buying power intelligently by patronizing quality goods and services while boycotting fake ones.
Consumer advocates in Ghana have often made the mistake of thinking that knowledge of consumer rights and the enactment of consumer protection laws will provide a safe haven for Ghanaian consumers. In every country in the world, even in the absence of a consolidated Consumer Protection Law, various statutes in the various sectors of the economy already contain provisions that are meant to protect the interests of consumers and it is the lack of legal enforcement that has been the bane of the system. Some of these laws and regulations are the mandates of various regulatory agencies in the country that are responsible for their enforcement and there are consumer protection provisions in all of them. Prioritizing consumer protection within their mandate has been the growing concern of Ghanaian consumers as they find very little being done in this area. Most Ghanaian consumers question in whose interest some of these government regulatory agencies are working as they believe that these government agencies are more protective of businesses within their jurisdiction than protecting consumers. This is buttressed by the fact that government regulatory agencies have not got sub-offices in the central business districts and other major markets where most consumer problems persist and are more prominent than their present head offices that are unreachable to most Ghanaian consumers.
Even in those countries where there is an enacted Consumer Protection Law, consumers cannot profess to know its content in totality. However, just like knowing there is a Police Force that looks out for the violation of criminal laws that we may not even be aware of, citizens still have the responsibility of protecting themselves from crime by learning to lock up their property, keeping their homes insured, staying away from infringing on other people’s freedoms and learning which of their own actions constitute civil wrongs and criminal violations, etc.
Even with the presence of consumer protection organizations, consumers, thus, have a responsibility of learning to read labels of products to check the ingredients, date of expiry, etc since no organization or law will do so for them at the point of purchase. Similarly, consumers are to read and understand contracts there are given to sign before appending their signatures.
For more information, contact:
The Consumer Partnership-Ghana [The COP]
KDPM 28
Kanda-Accra
Email: jytlukaz-AT-gmail.com, theconsumerpartnership-AT-gmail.com
http://www.ghanaconsumerwatch.wordpress.com
http://www.ghanaconsumerwatch.blogspot.com
http://www.theconsumerpartnership.wordpress.com
Ghana, while still embarking on the necessary steps towards a new consumer protection law, cannot presently boast of consumer protection legislation but rather a number of legislations that deal with consumer protection issues. The lack of a comprehensive consumer protection law is often to be blamed on defective national trade policies that have evolved over the years.
According to the Ministry of Trade, the Ghana Trade Policy approved by Cabinet in 2004 is set within the context of Ghana’s long-term strategic goal of achieving middle-income status and becoming a leading agro-industrial country in Africa. It was designed to provide the Ministry with clear guidelines for implementing Government’s domestic and international trade agenda as well as ensure a consistent and stable policy environment within which the private sector can operate with certainty. To ensure that these policy objectives are met through the structured implementation of policy prescriptions, a detailed implementation blueprint – the Trade Sector Support Programme (TSSP) - was developed and launched in February 2005. It details out specific activities in 10 thematic areas (which together contain 27 sub-projects) to be undertaken annually for the achievement of the policy prescriptions contained in the Ghana Trade Policy.
The fundamental principle underlying the Trade Policy Is that the private sector is the engine of growth, with Government providing a trade enabling environment to actively stimulate private sector initiatives. This is to be achieved through the full spectrum of trade policy instruments across the ten (10) thematic areas that have been the basis of the Ghana Trade Policy objectives.
The new Ghana consumer protection law is to be based on the Consumer Protection Policy as captured in the Ghana Trade Policy with the sub-themes of Consumer Protection, Health and Safety of Consumers, Economic Interests of Consumers, Access to Adequate Information, Consumption and the Environment, Consumer Representation, Competition Policy and Government Procurement. Short of a single fundamental objective, the new consumer law must ensure a fair and transparent market place in which the rights of consumers are recognized and protected. Protecting consumers’ economic interests is as important as regulation to ensure that the goods and services are available at a reasonable price and are safe.
Ghana being a Third World country, the problems of consumers are more related to the provision of essential services such as drinking water, sanitation, education and health care, than the market-related ones. The new consumer protection law must give special attention to the basic needs of disadvantaged consumers, in both rural and urban areas, including low-income consumers, and those with very low levels of literacy. It must clearly spell out the rights of consumers and the responsibilities of suppliers of goods or services and regulate all aspects of the purchasing cycle for goods and services, from the advertising or marketing of products, the sale of goods, full disclosure of product or service information to consumers, the terms and conditions of contracts and after-sales services including the respect of guarantees and warranties, refund and return policies. The Ghana Consumer Protection Law must integrate the universally accepted consumer rights into law by referring, implicitly or explicitly, to eight specific consumer rights, namely:
1. The Right to Basic needs
2. The Right to Safety
3. The Right to Information
4. The Right to Choice
5. The Right to Representation
6. The Right to Redress
7. The Right to Consumer Education
8. The Right to Healthy Environment
As constitutions of countries have evolved to reflect a citizens’ rights-based approach, so are consumer protection laws. The Consumer Protection Law for Ghana must move beyond mere consolidation of scattered sectoral laws and regulations to crystallizing and reforming consumer rights as enshrined in the various laws of Ghana as well as fair trading regulations.
This will ensure an easily-accessible, consumer-friendly, cross-cutting, rights-based approach to the development of a single, comprehensive legal framework for consumer protection. As the review of existing laws is inevitable considering that there are a number of obsolete consumer protection provisions that need to reflect modern consumer economics It should not be a mere major review of commercial and fair trade laws but must make provision for the drafting of new ones. It must cover much ground to the extent of providing for future innovative business fraud schemes and unfair trade practices.
Many developing countries on the various continents such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Botswana, Uganda, Malawi and South Africa have moved towards a comprehensive rights-based approach to their development of legislation for consumer protection that was guided by the UN Guidelines for consumer protection under the themes of Physical Safety, Economic Interests, Standards, Essential Goods and Services, Redress, Education and Information, and Health.
Beyond the establishment of a Consumer Protection Authority and Small Claims Courts, the Ghana Consumer Protection Law must move for the creation of the necessary institutions to take care of general consumer rights, product quality and safety and the specialized area of financial services that will all strengthen the Consumer Protection Regime such as a Consumer Product Safety Commission and a Consumer Financial Protection Commission.
As consumer groups in Ghana are moving for the new consumer protection law, which they believe will protect Ghanaian consumers, the Consumer Partnership is of the opinion that given the present environment of lack of legal enforcement compounded by a lacunae of resources, a new act of law is no guarantee of better consumer protection although it could be a first step in the process. The Consumer Partnership also believes that some of the voluntary standards developed by the Ghana Standards Board, such as the Advertising Code must be passed into law making reference to it as a Legislative Instrument (LI).
Consumer Protection is not a one-way street and requires consumers to act responsibly as no quantum of protection can secure irresponsible consumers. Consumer Protection is a process that involves consumers, service providers, producers and the government in a blend of roles and responsibilities. Thus, a working definition of Consumer Protection proposed by the Consumer Partnership given this background should include
‘the responsible ethical behaviour of consumers, producers or service providers in the respective buying and selling of products or services and the effective control of the marketplace by the government through the enforcement of laws and regulations, the promotion of standards and the dissemination consumer education.’
This presupposes that for consumer protection to exist, prevail, and be effective, the following conditions must be satisfied:
1. Consumers must be aware of their rights and responsibilities
2. Consumers must be responsible in the exercise of their rights
3. Consumers must be aware of the ethical consequences of their consumption
4. Producers and Service Providers must be responsible for the consequences of selling shoddy goods and services
5. Producers and Service Providers must be ethical in the conduct of their business
6. Government must regulate the marketplace through policy, laws and regulations
7. Government must exercise its responsibility of promoting standards, Consumer Education and Consumer Protection through an Ombudsman and other supporting agencies.
Of critical importance is the essence of Consumer and Business Education as a government responsibility even with the enactment of a new consumer protection law. Consumers need consumer education to build their capacity to act as rational and responsible consumers in the market place; Businesspersons need consumer education to build their capacity to become ethical businesspersons, to serve consumer interest, satisfaction and well‐being for a profit, rather than to profiteer from them; and Manufacturers need consumer education to build their capacity to become ethical manufacturers to serve consumer interest, satisfaction and well‐being, also for a profit and not mislead consumers to profiteer from them.
The actions of educated consumers and responsible businesses are often highly effective in minimising the harm caused by shoddy services and unsafe products. More importantly, they do so in a way that poses the least obstacles to business activity and to the ability of consumers to choose the goods and services that they prefer.
Responsible businesses go to considerable lengths to ensure that the products which they market are safe for consumers and that consumers are provided with sufficient information to use products safely. Many Ghanaian consumers take for granted that they need to educate themselves about the safety characteristics of the products which they purchase.
In their own bid to protect themselves, Ghanaian consumers need a set of tools to equip themselves with knowledge for their own safety. These tools of self-protection include protecting and optimizing their limited resources, avoiding product misuse, seeking information on products before buying them, using their buying power intelligently by patronizing quality goods and services while boycotting fake ones.
Consumer advocates in Ghana have often made the mistake of thinking that knowledge of consumer rights and the enactment of consumer protection laws will provide a safe haven for Ghanaian consumers. In every country in the world, even in the absence of a consolidated Consumer Protection Law, various statutes in the various sectors of the economy already contain provisions that are meant to protect the interests of consumers and it is the lack of legal enforcement that has been the bane of the system. Some of these laws and regulations are the mandates of various regulatory agencies in the country that are responsible for their enforcement and there are consumer protection provisions in all of them. Prioritizing consumer protection within their mandate has been the growing concern of Ghanaian consumers as they find very little being done in this area. Most Ghanaian consumers question in whose interest some of these government regulatory agencies are working as they believe that these government agencies are more protective of businesses within their jurisdiction than protecting consumers. This is buttressed by the fact that government regulatory agencies have not got sub-offices in the central business districts and other major markets where most consumer problems persist and are more prominent than their present head offices that are unreachable to most Ghanaian consumers.
Even in those countries where there is an enacted Consumer Protection Law, consumers cannot profess to know its content in totality. However, just like knowing there is a Police Force that looks out for the violation of criminal laws that we may not even be aware of, citizens still have the responsibility of protecting themselves from crime by learning to lock up their property, keeping their homes insured, staying away from infringing on other people’s freedoms and learning which of their own actions constitute civil wrongs and criminal violations, etc.
Even with the presence of consumer protection organizations, consumers, thus, have a responsibility of learning to read labels of products to check the ingredients, date of expiry, etc since no organization or law will do so for them at the point of purchase. Similarly, consumers are to read and understand contracts there are given to sign before appending their signatures.
For more information, contact:
The Consumer Partnership-Ghana [The COP]
KDPM 28
Kanda-Accra
Email: jytlukaz-AT-gmail.com, theconsumerpartnership-AT-gmail.com
http://www.ghanaconsumerwatch.wordpress.com
http://www.ghanaconsumerwatch.blogspot.com
http://www.theconsumerpartnership.wordpress.com
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Obama’s Long Arm of Consumer Protection Reaches out to Ghana
By Jean Lukaz MIH
A delegation from the Council for International Consumer Protection of the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) met with the Consumer lobby in Accra-Ghana under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Wednesday to deliberate on ways of leveraging the institutional strength of the FTC in establishing enforcement mechanisms to protect Ghanaian consumers.
This was part of the FTC’s second year of consumer education outreach to the African continent in their commitment to working towards consumer protection in a global competitive marketplace that knows few boundaries.
In a workshop themed ‘Empowering Consumers through Education’, the FTC delegates Deon Woods Bell and Shaundra L. Watson delivered presentations with Ghanaian counterparts on key topics that included common consumer protection challenges in the legal frameworks of both Ghana and the US, financial practices, internet fraud, consumer education tools, and dispute resolution and redress mechanisms.
According to Ms Bell, the principal, but not the only, consumer protection agency at the federal level is the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC works alone, but in concert with other federal agencies, to administer a wide variety of consumer protection laws. The overall goal is to afford consumers a deception-free marketplace and provide the highest-quality products at competitive prices.
Representatives of consumer protection organizations such as the Consumer Partnership (The COP) was in attendance and offered useful suggestions on how to adopt and implement the lessons learned from the FTC cases and consolidate the Consumer Protection Bill in terms of content and the institutional setup of the proposed Consumer Protection Authority (CPA) that will function as a parallel of the FTC. Other consumer NGOs present were Consumers Association of Ghana, Consumer Protection Agency and Consumer Services Association.
Discussing the legal authority of the FTC, Ms Watson indicated that the organisation has enforcement and administrative abilities and has two main goals of protecting consumers by preventing fraud, deception, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and of maintaining competition by preventing anticompetitive business practices. She added that under the FTC Act, the FTC can make victimized consumers whole through restitution and punish wrongdoers through disgorgement of ill-gotten gains. The FTC seeks these remedies when it can objectively determine a clear violation of a law and reasonably calculate the damages payment. The FTC does not have the power to bring criminal charges. Any such federal cases in the consumer protection area would be brought in federal courts by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Office of International Affairs of the FTC works with competition and consumer protection agencies around the world to promote cooperation and convergence toward best practices and also actively assists developing countries in their transition to market-based economies and their development of competition and consumer protection agencies.
Updating the audience on the status of the Consumer Protection Policy and the long-awaited Consumer Protection Bill, Mr. Ben Peasah, a Director at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, intimated that the Policy is before Cabinet pending approval after which the next steps towards a consultative development of the Bill can commence.
Participants were drawn from various Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) such as Bank of Ghana, Ghana Police Service, Customs Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS), Ghana Law Reform Commission, Judicial Service, Ghana Standards Board (GSB) and Food and Drugs Board (FDB) among others.
A delegation from the Council for International Consumer Protection of the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) met with the Consumer lobby in Accra-Ghana under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry on Wednesday to deliberate on ways of leveraging the institutional strength of the FTC in establishing enforcement mechanisms to protect Ghanaian consumers.
This was part of the FTC’s second year of consumer education outreach to the African continent in their commitment to working towards consumer protection in a global competitive marketplace that knows few boundaries.
In a workshop themed ‘Empowering Consumers through Education’, the FTC delegates Deon Woods Bell and Shaundra L. Watson delivered presentations with Ghanaian counterparts on key topics that included common consumer protection challenges in the legal frameworks of both Ghana and the US, financial practices, internet fraud, consumer education tools, and dispute resolution and redress mechanisms.
According to Ms Bell, the principal, but not the only, consumer protection agency at the federal level is the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC works alone, but in concert with other federal agencies, to administer a wide variety of consumer protection laws. The overall goal is to afford consumers a deception-free marketplace and provide the highest-quality products at competitive prices.
Representatives of consumer protection organizations such as the Consumer Partnership (The COP) was in attendance and offered useful suggestions on how to adopt and implement the lessons learned from the FTC cases and consolidate the Consumer Protection Bill in terms of content and the institutional setup of the proposed Consumer Protection Authority (CPA) that will function as a parallel of the FTC. Other consumer NGOs present were Consumers Association of Ghana, Consumer Protection Agency and Consumer Services Association.
Discussing the legal authority of the FTC, Ms Watson indicated that the organisation has enforcement and administrative abilities and has two main goals of protecting consumers by preventing fraud, deception, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and of maintaining competition by preventing anticompetitive business practices. She added that under the FTC Act, the FTC can make victimized consumers whole through restitution and punish wrongdoers through disgorgement of ill-gotten gains. The FTC seeks these remedies when it can objectively determine a clear violation of a law and reasonably calculate the damages payment. The FTC does not have the power to bring criminal charges. Any such federal cases in the consumer protection area would be brought in federal courts by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Office of International Affairs of the FTC works with competition and consumer protection agencies around the world to promote cooperation and convergence toward best practices and also actively assists developing countries in their transition to market-based economies and their development of competition and consumer protection agencies.
Updating the audience on the status of the Consumer Protection Policy and the long-awaited Consumer Protection Bill, Mr. Ben Peasah, a Director at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, intimated that the Policy is before Cabinet pending approval after which the next steps towards a consultative development of the Bill can commence.
Participants were drawn from various Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) such as Bank of Ghana, Ghana Police Service, Customs Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS), Ghana Law Reform Commission, Judicial Service, Ghana Standards Board (GSB) and Food and Drugs Board (FDB) among others.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
PURCing the Ghanaian Consumer- A Comedy of Public Utilities
Jean Lukaz MIH, The Consumer Partnership-Ghana
Pronouncing verdicts may be an easy task for the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), but PURCing the Ghanaian Consumer with oversize tariffs and with very little expectations other than promises from the monopolies of an electricity cartel and an Aqua-something-Vitens is not amusing.
Concocted Households?
By way of what is believed to be a ‘social tariff’ or government subsidy we are being made to believe that poorer consumers are protected. As if by design the average Ghanaian household since creation consumes within the 0-50 bracket, popularly referred to as the "lifeline" as well as rural consumers who hardly have electricity and worst of all have their meters physically removed by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for their inability to pay for their ‘lifelines’, the PURC may be the first to relieve itself of erratic and unsatisfactory utility supplies. Let’s see if the PURC on its new premises can afford and survive on pre-paid meters with their queuing subventions from a Government that constantly has over-outstanding and overdue utility bills that encourage utility service providers to underperform.
Monopolies versus Rights to Basic Needs and to Choice
The consumer right to satisfaction of basic needs includes the right to water and electricity. The first priority of all governments should be to make safe, affordable drinking and wastewater services as well as electricity available to all consumers and subsidies should be concentrated on poor consumers. The Consumer Partnership (The COP) believes that being monopolies for the sake of social good have created comfort zones for utility providers, thereby enabling them to muffle Ghanaian consumers from their right to choice. Unconscionable in their nature and existence by not warranting Ghanaian consumers an alternative other than the devil and the deep blue sea, we can only have to look over the fence to see one of the biggest oil suppliers with one of the highest per capita generator use in the world, a signature of unguaranteed promises and false expectations. Who owns what may not be the pre-eminent issue, but consumer protection is. This should be the guiding principle behind the regulation of utilities.
Price
Price controls should continue as long as public utility providers remain monopolistic. Price controls should take into account profit levels and rate of return on capital. The rate of return should be little more than is necessary for an industry to attract the necessary capital for investment. Increases in prices should be mitigated by reductions in non-payment and waste. Raising the proportion of consumers, both industrial and domestic, who pay their bills, would result in significant increases in revenue and reduce the pressure to raise tariffs. It would also be fairer than raising tariffs while significant numbers of consumers continue to avoid payment.
Coverage
The dilemma of who bears the investment cost of infrastructure extension is rendered less acute by efficiency gains. It is important to understand what costs are included in determining tariffs, and whether cost alone is the sole determinant of price. It is also important to understand the relationship between the price consumers pay and the true cost of running the utility as loading the cost onto present or new consumers can create unfair burdens. An important issue arises here as Ghanaian consumers believe they are bearing the cost of the inefficiency of utility service providers. The utility may also find it difficult to keep prices down if some large consumers, for instance government offices, do not pay their bills as is the case in Ghana.
False Expectations
Hoping to milk Ghanaian consumers in the short run to acquire some equipment of a kind may sound persuasive to gullible consumers whilst offering clear timelines for delivery of a purported improved service may be verboten and belated. For those that are asking Ghanaian consumers to consult President Obama for a dose of ‘Audacity of Hope’ from some West African Gas pipelines that have been overflowing with hot air, and a justification from a Jubilee anniversary platform that is yet to see the light of day, should rather consult their horoscope to see better times next year.
Big Ears, Small Voice
Safarying the country and PURCing the Ghanaian consumer in the guise of public hearings for what seemed to work in the interest of utility service providers, the mockumentary of ‘A Comedy of Public Utilities’ has finally been rolled out and PURC is definitely having a laugh as they can only hear themselves. Consumer Education (CE) roundtables have been elevated to high tables in star-rated hotel conference rooms where all classes of consumers, including rural utility consumers, play Ghostbusters. In fact, Ghanaian consumers hate rating the credibility of PURC, so please do not ask.
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.blogspot.com
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.wordpress.com
www.theconsumerpartnership.wordpress.com
Pronouncing verdicts may be an easy task for the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), but PURCing the Ghanaian Consumer with oversize tariffs and with very little expectations other than promises from the monopolies of an electricity cartel and an Aqua-something-Vitens is not amusing.
Concocted Households?
By way of what is believed to be a ‘social tariff’ or government subsidy we are being made to believe that poorer consumers are protected. As if by design the average Ghanaian household since creation consumes within the 0-50 bracket, popularly referred to as the "lifeline" as well as rural consumers who hardly have electricity and worst of all have their meters physically removed by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for their inability to pay for their ‘lifelines’, the PURC may be the first to relieve itself of erratic and unsatisfactory utility supplies. Let’s see if the PURC on its new premises can afford and survive on pre-paid meters with their queuing subventions from a Government that constantly has over-outstanding and overdue utility bills that encourage utility service providers to underperform.
Monopolies versus Rights to Basic Needs and to Choice
The consumer right to satisfaction of basic needs includes the right to water and electricity. The first priority of all governments should be to make safe, affordable drinking and wastewater services as well as electricity available to all consumers and subsidies should be concentrated on poor consumers. The Consumer Partnership (The COP) believes that being monopolies for the sake of social good have created comfort zones for utility providers, thereby enabling them to muffle Ghanaian consumers from their right to choice. Unconscionable in their nature and existence by not warranting Ghanaian consumers an alternative other than the devil and the deep blue sea, we can only have to look over the fence to see one of the biggest oil suppliers with one of the highest per capita generator use in the world, a signature of unguaranteed promises and false expectations. Who owns what may not be the pre-eminent issue, but consumer protection is. This should be the guiding principle behind the regulation of utilities.
Price
Price controls should continue as long as public utility providers remain monopolistic. Price controls should take into account profit levels and rate of return on capital. The rate of return should be little more than is necessary for an industry to attract the necessary capital for investment. Increases in prices should be mitigated by reductions in non-payment and waste. Raising the proportion of consumers, both industrial and domestic, who pay their bills, would result in significant increases in revenue and reduce the pressure to raise tariffs. It would also be fairer than raising tariffs while significant numbers of consumers continue to avoid payment.
Coverage
The dilemma of who bears the investment cost of infrastructure extension is rendered less acute by efficiency gains. It is important to understand what costs are included in determining tariffs, and whether cost alone is the sole determinant of price. It is also important to understand the relationship between the price consumers pay and the true cost of running the utility as loading the cost onto present or new consumers can create unfair burdens. An important issue arises here as Ghanaian consumers believe they are bearing the cost of the inefficiency of utility service providers. The utility may also find it difficult to keep prices down if some large consumers, for instance government offices, do not pay their bills as is the case in Ghana.
False Expectations
Hoping to milk Ghanaian consumers in the short run to acquire some equipment of a kind may sound persuasive to gullible consumers whilst offering clear timelines for delivery of a purported improved service may be verboten and belated. For those that are asking Ghanaian consumers to consult President Obama for a dose of ‘Audacity of Hope’ from some West African Gas pipelines that have been overflowing with hot air, and a justification from a Jubilee anniversary platform that is yet to see the light of day, should rather consult their horoscope to see better times next year.
Big Ears, Small Voice
Safarying the country and PURCing the Ghanaian consumer in the guise of public hearings for what seemed to work in the interest of utility service providers, the mockumentary of ‘A Comedy of Public Utilities’ has finally been rolled out and PURC is definitely having a laugh as they can only hear themselves. Consumer Education (CE) roundtables have been elevated to high tables in star-rated hotel conference rooms where all classes of consumers, including rural utility consumers, play Ghostbusters. In fact, Ghanaian consumers hate rating the credibility of PURC, so please do not ask.
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.blogspot.com
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.wordpress.com
www.theconsumerpartnership.wordpress.com
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
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.
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.blogspot.com
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.wordpress.com
www.theconsumerpartnership.wordpress.com
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.
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.blogspot.com
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.wordpress.com
www.theconsumerpartnership.wordpress.com
Sunday, May 9, 2010
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.
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.blogspot.com
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.wordpress.com
www.theconsumerpartnership.wordpress.com
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.
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.blogspot.com
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.wordpress.com
www.theconsumerpartnership.wordpress.com
Black Plastic, the Devil and Consumer Issues
By Jean Lukaz MIH
At a recent consumer meeting of The Consumer Partnership (The COP), issues were raised concerning the colour black being used in the production of plastic bags, bowls, buckets, etc and their implications as to the quality of the materials used and also issues not necessarilly technical but regarding the spiritual connotations of the colour black. It must be noted that black plastics are usually the product of recycled waste and by implication all black plasticware must not be used for food storage, food production, food transfer or food consumption.
Black plastic bags in Ghana are usually referred to as “Ewiase ye sum” meaning ‘It’s a dark world’ and connoting all that is concealed by the colour black and by implication inside the bag.
Technically, test reports from the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) indicate that the testing laboratory automatically does not check for the quality of black platic bags, black plastic bowls, black plastic buckets and black plastic waste bins [now being used by Ghanaian consumers to store water] in relation to their use for food for human consumption unless the description of the product categorically indicates that they are going to be used for food storage, food preparation, food transfer or food consumption purposes. This is because they are by default not meant to be used for food purposes.
What then happens to consumer misuse as is the prevalent situation in Ghana? You guess!
Black plastic cutlery and plates have been discovered in some of the so called high class stores such as Koala at Osu and even National Security has picked up on the emerging issue of the Black Plastic Menace in Ghana made in China and Ghana being sold in these shops. It is even worse in the open marketplaces where the majority of illiterate and ignorant Ghanaian consumers patronise these products to the risk of their health and safety.
Some factories in the Accra industrial area are being reported to be recycling plastic from e-waste, car batteries and other toxic components in the manufacture of these black plastic cutlery, plates, bowls, buckets and bins/water containers and concealing the pigmentation with black dyes.
Expert opinion from the GSB also refers to the use of other colours apart from black in dyeing toxic recycled plastics. The dangers are worse when hot food is kept in these placticware as it catalyses the migration of toxins from the plasticware into the food that has the likelihood of causing cancer.
…And what has black plasticware got to do with the devil? You decide!
Are we safe?
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.blogspot.com
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.wordpress.com
www.theconsumerpartnership.wordpress.com
At a recent consumer meeting of The Consumer Partnership (The COP), issues were raised concerning the colour black being used in the production of plastic bags, bowls, buckets, etc and their implications as to the quality of the materials used and also issues not necessarilly technical but regarding the spiritual connotations of the colour black. It must be noted that black plastics are usually the product of recycled waste and by implication all black plasticware must not be used for food storage, food production, food transfer or food consumption.
Black plastic bags in Ghana are usually referred to as “Ewiase ye sum” meaning ‘It’s a dark world’ and connoting all that is concealed by the colour black and by implication inside the bag.
Technically, test reports from the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) indicate that the testing laboratory automatically does not check for the quality of black platic bags, black plastic bowls, black plastic buckets and black plastic waste bins [now being used by Ghanaian consumers to store water] in relation to their use for food for human consumption unless the description of the product categorically indicates that they are going to be used for food storage, food preparation, food transfer or food consumption purposes. This is because they are by default not meant to be used for food purposes.
What then happens to consumer misuse as is the prevalent situation in Ghana? You guess!
Black plastic cutlery and plates have been discovered in some of the so called high class stores such as Koala at Osu and even National Security has picked up on the emerging issue of the Black Plastic Menace in Ghana made in China and Ghana being sold in these shops. It is even worse in the open marketplaces where the majority of illiterate and ignorant Ghanaian consumers patronise these products to the risk of their health and safety.
Some factories in the Accra industrial area are being reported to be recycling plastic from e-waste, car batteries and other toxic components in the manufacture of these black plastic cutlery, plates, bowls, buckets and bins/water containers and concealing the pigmentation with black dyes.
Expert opinion from the GSB also refers to the use of other colours apart from black in dyeing toxic recycled plastics. The dangers are worse when hot food is kept in these placticware as it catalyses the migration of toxins from the plasticware into the food that has the likelihood of causing cancer.
…And what has black plasticware got to do with the devil? You decide!
Are we safe?
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.blogspot.com
www.ghanaconsumerwatch.wordpress.com
www.theconsumerpartnership.wordpress.com
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Stop Confusing Ghanaian Consumers!
Consumer alerts issued recently by the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) in respect of some identified fake medicines in the marketplace has been deemed inappropriate and confusing by the Consumer Partnership (The COP), a consumer protection organization in Ghana.
With the majority of Ghanaian consumers being illiterate and the literate folks not savvy enough to read the labels on products and moreso expiry dates and batch codes, the FDB alert on March 12, 2010, cited the names of the products as Cipro-Dor (Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride) and Clavu-Dor (Amoxicilin 500mg and Cluvulanic Acid 125mg) the name of the manufacturers. There were no images of the products empahsizing the details Ghanaian consumers should be looking out for when purchasing such products. Worst of all, mobile phone numbers were cited as hotlines.
Four days later, on March 16, 2010, the FDB comes out to clarify the previous alert that it was only related to a particular batch and not the entire range of the mentioned brands believing in the assumption that Ghanaian consumers understand batch coding. The Pharmacy Council has an obligation of rather alerting their members on pulling off the fake drugs off their shelves so they do not reach the hands of poor Ghanaian consumers who trust that pharmacists will only sell them wholesome medicines.
The work of regulatory agencies such as that of the FDB require huge budgets for Consumer Education (CE) and Product Alerts and government must take cognisance of this when approving their budgets.
The Consumer Partnership believes that consumer alerts of such nature should be accompanied by full colour photographs of the products in question on the front pages of national newspapers. It is an apology to have regulatory agencies such as the FDB to put out such alerts and cite expensive mobile phone numbers as hotlines instead of toll-free numbers and set up control points in the marketplace. The pharmacy council must have a self-regulatory mechanism for following up on such alerts.
In a related development, when the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) issued an alert on Tuesday, October 27 2009, on the presence of some brands of tomato paste on the Ghanaian market which contain starch and sugar but are branded as ‘Pure Tomato Paste’ in contravention to the GSB Standard for Tomato Paste, there ensued a week-long rebuttal by FDB and an institutional debate between the FDB and GSB on their mandates instead of embarking on consumer education regarding the brands on the market that were unsafe or did not meet the GSB Standard.
According to Jean Lukaz, a Consumer Advocate, consumers in Ghana are being taken for granted by the very institutions that have the mandate to protect them from unscrupulous business people in the marketplace. This, he said, is the result of very little, ineffective, misguided or no consumer education being carried out by these institutions. When consumer forums are organised by some of these institutions, they are elitist in nature and do not give the ordinary poor consumer a voice given the duration, atmosphere, language and location restrictions, he added.
With the majority of Ghanaian consumers being illiterate and the literate folks not savvy enough to read the labels on products and moreso expiry dates and batch codes, the FDB alert on March 12, 2010, cited the names of the products as Cipro-Dor (Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride) and Clavu-Dor (Amoxicilin 500mg and Cluvulanic Acid 125mg) the name of the manufacturers. There were no images of the products empahsizing the details Ghanaian consumers should be looking out for when purchasing such products. Worst of all, mobile phone numbers were cited as hotlines.
Four days later, on March 16, 2010, the FDB comes out to clarify the previous alert that it was only related to a particular batch and not the entire range of the mentioned brands believing in the assumption that Ghanaian consumers understand batch coding. The Pharmacy Council has an obligation of rather alerting their members on pulling off the fake drugs off their shelves so they do not reach the hands of poor Ghanaian consumers who trust that pharmacists will only sell them wholesome medicines.
The work of regulatory agencies such as that of the FDB require huge budgets for Consumer Education (CE) and Product Alerts and government must take cognisance of this when approving their budgets.
The Consumer Partnership believes that consumer alerts of such nature should be accompanied by full colour photographs of the products in question on the front pages of national newspapers. It is an apology to have regulatory agencies such as the FDB to put out such alerts and cite expensive mobile phone numbers as hotlines instead of toll-free numbers and set up control points in the marketplace. The pharmacy council must have a self-regulatory mechanism for following up on such alerts.
In a related development, when the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) issued an alert on Tuesday, October 27 2009, on the presence of some brands of tomato paste on the Ghanaian market which contain starch and sugar but are branded as ‘Pure Tomato Paste’ in contravention to the GSB Standard for Tomato Paste, there ensued a week-long rebuttal by FDB and an institutional debate between the FDB and GSB on their mandates instead of embarking on consumer education regarding the brands on the market that were unsafe or did not meet the GSB Standard.
According to Jean Lukaz, a Consumer Advocate, consumers in Ghana are being taken for granted by the very institutions that have the mandate to protect them from unscrupulous business people in the marketplace. This, he said, is the result of very little, ineffective, misguided or no consumer education being carried out by these institutions. When consumer forums are organised by some of these institutions, they are elitist in nature and do not give the ordinary poor consumer a voice given the duration, atmosphere, language and location restrictions, he added.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Ghana Celebrates World Consumer Rights Day 2010
Consumer Protection is Government’s Duty!
Government has been urged to meet its obligations in the area of consumer protection both as a constitutional mandate and as required by UN guidelines on consumer protection for governments around the world. This statement was made by Jean Lukaz, Executive Director of the Consumer Partnership-Ghana and ISO Expert Trainer on Consumer Participation in Standardization, during a seminar held to mark World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) 2010, which was hosted by the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) as part of its efforts at supporting consumer protection activities.
‘Ghanaian consumers must make a conscious effort at changing the culture of silence to adopt a culture of complaints’, he said. This enables businesses, government regulatory agencies and consumer protection organizations to respond effectively to rid out shoddy goods and services and thereby protect their rights, he added.
In his presentation, Mr Lukaz highlighted the fact that not only must consumers exercise their rights but also they should be aware of their responsibilities and the impact of their behaviour on business and government. He added that responsibilities always precede rights and that if Ghanaian consumers want their rights recognised, they must first exercise their responsibilities.
In an attempt to define consumer protection, he said Consumer Protection, thus, can be defined as:
‘the responsible ethical behaviour of consumers, producers or service providers in the respective buying and selling of goods or services and the effective control of the marketplace by the government through the enforcement of laws and regulations, the promotion of standards and the dissemination of consumer education.’ (The Consumer Partnership, 2009)
The best consumer protection is self-protection and consumers require consumer education to protect themselves in the market place. However, most consumer education efforts by governmernt agencies are ineffective because they are in English only and targeted at the literate population who read some key newspapers. This leaves about half the population uninformed and uneducated, he concluded.
Speaking on the theme for this year’s WCRD 2010 ‘Our money, Our rights’ as proposed by Consumers International, Mr Lukaz made reference to the fact that 80 percent of Ghanaians are financially illiterate and this amazingly includes educated folk. He urged that the Financial Services sector must adhere to codes outlined by the Partnership for Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) and the UN Blue Book on Building Inclusive Financial Sectors for Development.
Jean Lukaz criticised the Consumer Movement in Ghana for not being established at grassroot level which has resulted in low levels of impatience and ‘demo-crazyness’. There seems to be more on advocacy than activism but cautioned that the Consumer Movement must desist from statements and activities that will create the perception that it is ‘anti-business’.
Also present were Consumer Protection Agency CEO, Mr Kofi Kapito, who led a discussion on the Ghanaian and quality consciousness and Mr Ken Appenteng of SPEED, who delivered a presentation on financial literacy in Ghana. Representatives from Consumer Focus, Lecturers and students from the University of Ghana Health Science Department were in attendance as well as members of the Public.
The Ghana Standards Board has been supporting consumer protection in Ghana as part of their international mandate from membership to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) by encouraging consumer participation in standardization through the nomination of Consumer Representatives unto various Technical Committees and the participation of Consumer Organizations in ISO/COPOLCO (Consumer Policy Committee) activities. According to Mrs Adetola, Director of Standards, Jean Lukaz, a consumer representative on a Technical Committee, has been nominated to represent Ghana at the next ISO/COPOLCO Global Workshop on Social Responsibility in Copenhagen, Denmark from 15-21 May 2010.
Mrs Diana Amponsah further explained the activies of COPOLCO and how consumers participate in their activities in a presentation.
The Consumer Partnership-Ghana is advocating for access to stable, secure and fair financial services, which is important for consumers everywhere, not least in the context of the global financial crisis. Government policy makers have a duty to increase consumer information ( ‘truth in lending’ for example), invest in financial literacy initiatives (i.e., consumer education), insist that the retail financial industry take steps to protect consumers (self-regulatory codes of conduct, for example) and encourage the development of an independent regulatory oversight body responsible for monitoring, reviewing and taking complaints.
In a move to protecting Ghanaian consumers in Financial Services, the Bank of Ghana has established a new Investigation and Consumer Reporting Office (ICRO) within the Banking Supervision Department (BSD) as the financial industry watchdog office of the Bank of Ghana (BOG), with responsibility for protecting consumers of financial products/services and educating them on their rights and responsibilities. While this effort is laudable, the Consumer Partnership believes that government should be moving more towards state sponsorship of regulation instead of state provision since this prevents duplication of mandates as is the case of this new ICRO within the Bank of Ghana that is working with the same mission, laws and regulations.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Generator safety: Deaths from CO poisoning on the rise
Deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning associated with the use of portable generators are increasing, according to new information released by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
There were 85 carbon monoxide poisoning deaths attributed to the use of generators in 2006, the year covered in the latest CPSC study. The estimated number of generator-related CO fatalities doubled in 2005 and 2006 from the two prior years, with a combined estimate of 182 fatalities in 2005 and 2006 compared to an estimated 92 in 2003 and 2004, the agency reported. One reason for the sharp spike in 2005 was likely a high number of severe weather events that caused widespread power outages, including hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Non-weather related CO fatalities associated with generator use are also on the rise—by 53 percent from 2004 to 2005, and another 41 percent from 2005 to 2006. In contrast to 2005, the busiest hurricane season since records have been kept, there were no hurricanes that made landfall in the U.S. in 2006.
Recently, Underwriters Laboratories asked us to help get the word out on generator safety and to call attention to its first standard for portable generators, which took effect in March. The standard—UL 2201—addresses hazards associated with the typical use of generators, primarily those related to CO poisoning.
According to UL, the new performance requirements facilitate safe outdoor use of UL-listed portable generators during storms or poor weather conditions, as well as provide clear usage labels for consumers to help reduce the known risks of CO poisoning and electrocution.
Here are some tips on generator safety that our readers have found helpful..
- Never operate a generator indoors or in any enclosed or partially enclosed area—even if you think you can adequately ventilate the space.
- Keep generators away from windows, doors, air conditioners, and vents where gases can enter the house. Outside, always be conscious of where the exhaust gas is moving, and stay out of its path.
- Maintain working carbon-monoxide detectors throughout your home.
- Properly store and handle the gasoline. Never refuel the generator while it's running; stop the engine and allow it to cool first.
- Store gasoline safely. Keep it outside in a cool place away from the house or a heat source. Treat gas with a stabilizer (about $5 to treat 25 gallons) to preserve it for up to a year. And dispose of old fuel by using it in mowers and other outdoor equipment.
- Be sure the generator is properly grounded, and use extreme caution around wet electrical cords. Use a portable GFCI device with extension cords whenever you use your generator.
- Never connect a generator directly to a home's wiring. If the generator is used to power home circuits, always use a properly installed transfer switch (about $600 installed).
- Keep connections safe. For small generators, use extension cords rated for the wattage they're carrying.
For more information see our most recent report on generators including Ratings and recommendations.
Portable Generator Hazards
Consumer Product Safety Commission Safety Alert
Portable generators are useful when temporary or remote electric power is needed, but they also can be hazardous. The primary hazards to avoid when using a generator are carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning from the toxic engine exhaust, electric shock or electrocution, fire and burns.
Every year, people die in incidents related to portable generator use. Most of the incidents associated with portable generators reported to CPSC involve CO poisoning from generators used indoors or in partially-enclosed spaces.
Carbon Monoxide Hazards
When used in a confined space, generators can produce high levels of CO within minutes. When you use a portable generator, remember that you cannot see or smell CO. Even if you do not smell exhaust fumes, you may still be exposed to CO.
Danger labels are required on all portable generators manufactured or imported on or after May 14, 2007.
If you start to feel sick, dizzy, or weak while using a generator, get to fresh air RIGHT AWAY. DO NOT DELAY. The CO from generators can rapidly kill you.
Follow these safety tips to protect against CO poisoning.
- NEVER use a generator inside homes, garages, crawlspaces, sheds, or similar areas, even when using fans or opening doors and windows for ventilation. Deadly levels of carbon monoxide can quickly build up in these areas and can linger for hours, even after the generator has shut off.
- Follow the instructions that come with your generator. Locate the unit outdoors and far from doors, windows, and vents that could allow CO to come indoors.
- Install battery-operated CO alarms or plug-in CO alarms with battery back-up in your home, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. CO alarms should be certified to the requirements of the latest safety standards (UL 2034, IAS 6-96, or CSA 6.19.01). Test batteries monthly.
To avoid CO poisoning when using generators:
- Never run generators indoors, including garages, basements, crawlspaces and sheds.
- Get to fresh air right away if you start to feel dizzy or weak.
Electrical Hazards
- Generators pose a risk of shock and electrocution, especially if they are operated in wet conditions. If you must use a generator when it is wet outside, protect the generator from moisture to help avoid the shock/electrocution hazard, but do so without operating the generator indoors or near openings to any building that can be occupied in order to help avoid the CO hazard. Operate the generator under an open, canopy-like structure on a dry surface where water cannot reach it or puddle or drain under it. Dry your hands, if wet, before touching the generator.
- Connect appliances to the generator using heavy-duty extension cords that are specifically designed for outdoor use. Make sure the wattage rating for each cord exceeds the total wattage of all appliances connected to it. Use extension cords that are long enough to allow the generator to be placed outdoors and far away from windows, doors and vents to the home or to other structures that could be occupied. Check that the entire length of each cord is free of cuts or tears and that the plug has all three prongs. Protect the cord from getting pinched or crushed if it passes through a window or doorway.
- NEVER try to power the house wiring by plugging the generator into a wall outlet, a practice known as “backfeeding.” This is extremely dangerous and presents an electrocution risk to utility workers and neighbors served by the same utility transformer. It also bypasses some of the built-in household circuit protection devices.
Fire Hazards
- Never store fuel for your generator in the home. Gasoline, propane, kerosene, and other flammable liquids should be stored outside of living areas in properly-labeled, non-glass safety containers. Do not store them near a fuel-burning appliance, such as a natural gas water heater in a garage.
- Before refueling the generator, turn it off and let it cool down. Gasoline spilled on hot engine parts could ignite.
5123/0407
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/portgen.html
Monday, September 7, 2009
Ghana to host conference on consumer protection in Africa
Ghana is to host an international conference on consumer protection in Africa, coming September 8-9, 2009 in Accra.
More than 250 policy makers, regulators, journalists and representatives from financial institutions and their apex organizations, the education sector, consumer protection agencies, and development partners from over 30 countries will participate in the conference.
The conference would be hosted in collaboration with the Partnership for Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) on the theme “Promoting Financial Capability and Consumer Protection – A step forward towards financial inclusion in Africa.”
A statement from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning issued in Accra on Thursday, quoted Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning saying "Promoting financial capability is about raising awareness, promoting knowledge, building trust, and changing behaviour.”
“And it is not limited to educating consumers and enabling them to take informed decisions on savings, loan and investment products”, he added.
According to him, management and staff of financial institutions need to be trained to become more responsive to the needs of their clients, and supervisors need the capacity to protect consumers against fraud and other bad business practices.
The conference is being organized against the background that low-income households in Africa often have limited access to demand-oriented and affordable financial services.
They include savings, loans, and insurance, which means they have to revert to more expensive and less secure traditional alternatives of saving and borrowing and remain vulnerable to adverse shocks.
Research has shown that in order to strengthen financial institutions in Africa, there is the need to promote financial capability, to empower people to be capable of managing their financial assets and liabilities and to better understand their rights and responsibilities vis-à-vis financial institutions.
However, strengthening the financial capability of the population is not sufficient since governments also have a role to play in protecting consumers by ensuring that financial institutions apply recognized standards and suitable codes of conducts.
In order to create sustainable ‘win-win situations’ in this long-run, it is believed that financial capability measures need to go hand in hand with responsible, transparent and reliable services provided by financial institutions.
In moderated regional and national working groups, participants will have the chance to develop ideas and proposals as to what they think should be done in their country or region to improve financial capability.
A panel on social marketing will show films and discuss which marketing channels can be used best to address the different target groups of financial capability campaigns.
The Government of Ghana, together with the Ghana Microfinance Institutions Network (GHAMFIN), will hold as a prelude to the conference, a day’s Pre-Conference on “Promoting Financial Capability and Consumer Protection in Ghana” on September 7, 2009.
According to Mr Seth Terkper, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, “Financial capability is very high on the political agenda of the Government.”
He said “Ghana is one of the first countries in Africa that have developed and started to implement a National Strategy for Financial Literacy and Consumer Protection in the Microfinance Sector”.
Over the past two years, “financial literacy road shows” have been carried out in all 10 regions of Ghana, easy-to-understand educational materials have been developed and distributed, high school quizzes have been organized, and radio programs on saving and responsible borrowing as well as television sitcoms on insurance have been telecast.
All activities will culminate at the Ghana Financial Literacy Week, which will take place from 28 September 28 to October 3, 2009.
Against this background, over 150 Ghanaian and international financial sector champions from the public sector and the financial sector as well as representatives from academia, consumer protection agencies, non-governmental organizations and development partners will discuss and evaluate whether “Ghana is on track and set the right priorities in financial capability and consumer protection”.
Additionally, innovative topics such as “Integrating Financial Capability into High Schools” and “Promoting Financial Capability through Mass Media” will be addressed.
Source: GNA
More than 250 policy makers, regulators, journalists and representatives from financial institutions and their apex organizations, the education sector, consumer protection agencies, and development partners from over 30 countries will participate in the conference.
The conference would be hosted in collaboration with the Partnership for Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) on the theme “Promoting Financial Capability and Consumer Protection – A step forward towards financial inclusion in Africa.”
A statement from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning issued in Accra on Thursday, quoted Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning saying "Promoting financial capability is about raising awareness, promoting knowledge, building trust, and changing behaviour.”
“And it is not limited to educating consumers and enabling them to take informed decisions on savings, loan and investment products”, he added.
According to him, management and staff of financial institutions need to be trained to become more responsive to the needs of their clients, and supervisors need the capacity to protect consumers against fraud and other bad business practices.
The conference is being organized against the background that low-income households in Africa often have limited access to demand-oriented and affordable financial services.
They include savings, loans, and insurance, which means they have to revert to more expensive and less secure traditional alternatives of saving and borrowing and remain vulnerable to adverse shocks.
Research has shown that in order to strengthen financial institutions in Africa, there is the need to promote financial capability, to empower people to be capable of managing their financial assets and liabilities and to better understand their rights and responsibilities vis-à-vis financial institutions.
However, strengthening the financial capability of the population is not sufficient since governments also have a role to play in protecting consumers by ensuring that financial institutions apply recognized standards and suitable codes of conducts.
In order to create sustainable ‘win-win situations’ in this long-run, it is believed that financial capability measures need to go hand in hand with responsible, transparent and reliable services provided by financial institutions.
In moderated regional and national working groups, participants will have the chance to develop ideas and proposals as to what they think should be done in their country or region to improve financial capability.
A panel on social marketing will show films and discuss which marketing channels can be used best to address the different target groups of financial capability campaigns.
The Government of Ghana, together with the Ghana Microfinance Institutions Network (GHAMFIN), will hold as a prelude to the conference, a day’s Pre-Conference on “Promoting Financial Capability and Consumer Protection in Ghana” on September 7, 2009.
According to Mr Seth Terkper, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, “Financial capability is very high on the political agenda of the Government.”
He said “Ghana is one of the first countries in Africa that have developed and started to implement a National Strategy for Financial Literacy and Consumer Protection in the Microfinance Sector”.
Over the past two years, “financial literacy road shows” have been carried out in all 10 regions of Ghana, easy-to-understand educational materials have been developed and distributed, high school quizzes have been organized, and radio programs on saving and responsible borrowing as well as television sitcoms on insurance have been telecast.
All activities will culminate at the Ghana Financial Literacy Week, which will take place from 28 September 28 to October 3, 2009.
Against this background, over 150 Ghanaian and international financial sector champions from the public sector and the financial sector as well as representatives from academia, consumer protection agencies, non-governmental organizations and development partners will discuss and evaluate whether “Ghana is on track and set the right priorities in financial capability and consumer protection”.
Additionally, innovative topics such as “Integrating Financial Capability into High Schools” and “Promoting Financial Capability through Mass Media” will be addressed.
Source: GNA
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