KARACHI, March 28: President Pervez Musharraf, in a message to the Second Regional Conference on Building Partnerships for Strong Consumer Protection in South Asia, said that consumer protection and corporate social responsibility were important issues, which needed extreme and immediate attention in view of the new WTO regime.
He further said that manufacturing, marketing and advertising or promoting sub-standard, adulterated and counterfeit items particularly foods should be treated as serious crimes, saying that legislators were required to make effective laws and mechanism to eradicate the menace.
The President commended the services of the Helpline Trust in organizing conferences, workshops and debate to create public awareness, and in helping legislators make relevant laws.
He also appreciated their efforts for holding the regional conference to sensitize the issues on the subject of building partnerships for strong consumer protection in South East Asia.
The President welcomed delegates from South-East Asian countries and hoped that they will all work together for a common protection guideline for standards and quality, and in protecting consumers from sub-standard, adulterated and counterfeit products by introducing good manufacturing practices.
The Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, in his message on the occasion said the topic was very important in our region especially in view of the new WTO regime, which required high quality products at competitive prices.
He was of the view that consumers and buyers should be protected from sub-standard, adulterated and spurious materials particularly food items.
The Prime Minister said the government had established the Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority for the very purpose and their job was to ensure that quality of products was maintained.
He said it was commendable that the Helpline Trust had been in the vanguard of protecting consumer rights by creating awareness among the public through their conferences, workshops and consumer watch programmes on TV and radio.
Shaukat Aziz hoped they would continue with their efforts in the future as well with added vigour and zeal. “We will extend maximum support in this regard.”
The Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Choudhry Nouraiz Shakoor Khan, in his message, said that a civilized society should have standards, consumer protection laws and a proper mechanism to implement them.
He said we should try to develop and implement consumer protection laws as quickly as possible, which would then result in strict implementation of standards by the trade and industry.
Shakoor said the Ministry of Science and Technology acknowledged and appreciated efforts being made for standardization, protection of consumer rights and creating awareness.
Governor Sindh Ishratul Ibad, in his message, said that consumer protectionism was a campaign for creating awareness of rights and responsibilities among consumers to counter the malpractices in society.
He was of the view that consumer rights were the force, which could assure the quality of products and services.
The governor was pleased that a lot of work was being done to generate this awareness in Pakistan.
He pointed out that the Consumer Protection Ordinance Sindh had been prepared in consultation with all stakeholders.
“I realize that the Ordinance has not been implemented fully. But once it comes into effect, it will help in controlling the quality of products and in eliminating the marketing of substandard, adulterated and counterfeit products”, the governor added in his message.
He pointed out that he had established a Consumer Rights Council to protect the interests of the consumers, and asked all stakeholders to work for the Council to protect consumer interests.—PPI/APP
