KARACHI, March 24: The provincial Minister for Agriculture and Livestock, Arif Mustafa Jatoi, has expressed the hope that the draft consumer protection law, if enacted, would help increase demand of indigenously made products which would eventually have salutary effects on the national economy.

The draft has been lying before the Sindh Assembly for vetting.

Mr Jatoi was speaking at a seminar held here to mark ‘Consumers Rights Day’. Prominent among those who spoke at the seminar included Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid, Tariq Rangoonwala, Shamim Kazmi and Hamid Maker.

The minister stressed the exigency of the setting up of separate consumer courts to handle complaints about counterfeit products to avoid delay in dispensing justice. He observed that the delay, being normally caused in normal courts, could aggravate frustration of an aggrieved person.

While referring to the traditional non-implementation of existing laws in the country, he observed that there was no dearth of laws for consumers. He regretted that assemblies did enact a number of laws and issue notification but they could not be enforced.

Mr Jatoi opined that lack of knowledge had made these laws redundant. He said consumer bore the responsibility to discourage counterfeit products.

Citing instances in this regard, he said that extensive research had proved that manufacturing and marketing of substandard mineral water was under way. He, however, regretted that in clear violation of laws, unscrupulous companies were continuing sale of substandard product without facing any hindrance.

He said unless awareness about consumers’ rights was created and fall out of consuming fake and spurious products was highlighted, circulation of such products would continue unabated and this would encourage unscrupulous elements further.

Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid emphasized the need for continuous efforts to combat the growing menace of counterfeit trade. He suggested that consumers should have access to information, especially when government made upward revision of essential commodities and tariffs of utilities like gas, fuel and electricity.

He said that the trend of secrecy prevalent in our society was conducive to corruption. He observed that over the past 56 years of history, successive governments had utilized this tool very successfully to conceal their shortcomings and malpractices.

Justice Zahid urged the government to introduce drastic legal and judicial reforms to improve working of the existing judicial system as this would also ensure accessibility of all downtrodden segments of the society to justice.—PPI