Asean
officials met here yesterday to discuss mechanisms to standardise consumer
protection in the 10-member grouping, which aims to draw in more investments
and churn out more revenue amidst a "fragile" global economy.
The regional association has pinned 2015 as the
target year for all member states to have consumer protection acts in place,
the same year that the grouping plans to become an "Asean Community".
"I believe we are making good
progress," said Brunei Permanent Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office Muhd
Lufti Abdullah, while officiating the fourth meeting of the Asean Committee on
Consumer Protection (ACCP) yesterday at The Rizqun International Hotel in
Gadong.
"However, some have developed faster than
others and hence, there is a need for cooperation within Asean to harmonise
each others' rules and regulations in order to move forward as a region."
The Brunei official added that consumer
protection was a "relatively new area of policy attention" for Asean,
with many challenges to be addressed. "In particular, we need to build
institutional and human capabilities for the development, socialisation and
enforcement of national policies, laws and regulations on consumer
protection," he said.
Muhd Lutfi added that a "centralised and
coordinated" mechanism were needed to address these challenges, while
governments and private sectors worked together to implement consumer
protection. "We also acknowledge the need for technical and financial
assistance from Asean's dialogue partners and international organisations."
For Brunei, consumer protection is considered
a "new development area", the permanent secretary said. "As one
of the countries in Asean that has yet to establish a principal consumer
protection act, there is a relatively high level of capacity building needs in
consumer protection in Brunei Darussalam, aimed at enhancing both the human and
institutional capacities to adopt or develop consumer protection mechanisms in
the country, by addressing the relevant challenges and gaps."
The Department of Economic Planning and
Development is the main agency overseeing the development of consumer
protection in the Sultanate.
The Chair of the 4th ACCP, Deputy Secretary
General (Consumerism and Management) of Malaysia's Ministry of Domestic Trade,
Cooperatives and Consumerism told The Brunei Times that the Asean Secretariat
was getting technical assistance to train Asean member states in consumer
protection.
"You (Brunei) are moving towards that
(consumer protection), say 2015. So meanwhile, within Asean we can have
cooperation - technical visits and training in other Asean members that do have
consumer protection law and a consumer redress mechanism that Brunei can learn
from countries with more mature consumer protection regime," Mahani Tan
Abdullah said.
"A comprehensive consumer protection
regulation and consumer awareness programme can lead to better consumers' trust
and perception towards safe buying which in turn, will create more investments
and revenue towards one's economy," Muhd Lufti said.
"This is especially important in the
current fragile state of the global economy and the risk of high and volatile
commodity prices." The three-day ACCP meeting will build on the outcomes
of the previous meeting in October last year, when member countries discussed
information exchange mechanisms on the recall of unsafe products and raising
consumer awareness, among others.
Ubaildillah Masli
The Brunei Times
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