National strategy for consumer education

The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority was set up at the time of the divorce referendum, so little or no attention was given to it by the media, which, time and time again, has pressured the government for a consumer watchdog.

As clearly indicated in the law setting it up, the aim is, on one side, to safeguard the interests of consumers and enhance their welfare and, on the other side, to promote sound business practices. Can this happen?

One of the primary objectives of the authority will be that of ensuring that markets function properly for the benefit of both consumers and economic operators. The building of trust between consumers and economic operators will play an important role in achieving this objective.

This trust can be achieved if consumers not only know their rights and obligations but also have been educated in consumer matters. Already in the early stage of its existence, the authority has identified that consumer education should be the foundation of our activities. Our aim is to give consumers the skills and knowledge to function confidently, effectively and responsibly when buying goods and services.

The situation today is to develop specific initiatives in an ad hoc manner to address specific problems. The lack of overall strategies and objectives may mean that opportunities to link policy initiatives in ways that enhance their effectiveness and efficiency are not being exploited. The development of policy frameworks with well-defined objectives could be helpful in addressing shortcomings in this regard.

In order to have a focused approach and obtain satisfactory results in achieving these objectives, the authority will be preparing a national strategy for consumer education. We will be consulting interested parties to prepare this strategy. Consumer education addresses not only problems of consumers individually but also of sustainable consumption. Consumer education has to contribute towards the formation of a participative, critical and competent citizenship. Consumer education should not only be an integral part of formal education but part of lifelong learning programmes.

If these wishful objectives are reached, consumer education can help make markets work well for consumers and businesses by driving competition. However, the authority is not going to wait for the national strategy exercise to be completed to start the educational programme. Already the presence of officers of the authority on the media is significant and our participation is very much appreciated. Later in the year, the first version of the Consumer magazine will be delivered to every household in Malta and Gozo.

Within the framework of this strategy, next year the authority plans to start consumer information sessions. These sessions will be covering both general and topical issues of the moment. One of the outcomes of the strategy is to enable consumers to use information in order to make confident and informed purchasing decisions. The objective is not to tell consumers what to buy but to make sure they know what they are buying.

By the treaty of Amsterdam in 1997, the European Union made consumer education part of the general objective of consumer protection. Consumer education is, thus, a right of European consumers and an objective to be achieved jointly by the EU and member states.

The European Commission has developed certain consumer education tools for the citizens of the member states, such as the annual European Consumer Diary for young people and the website Dolceta for adults. These teaching materials are important as they help identify and define the most important themes within the recommended curriculum.

The past decade has seen significant changes in markets and services. These changes increase the need for consumer education and make necessary a revision of its themes and focal areas. Money no longer has to take the form of actual coins and notes but can be spent from virtual wallets. The number of products and public and commercial services on offer has multiplied enormously while increased globalisation has made it even more difficult to obtain a general overview of the economy.

The authority hopes that the strategy will be the first step to educate the Maltese consumer. Consumers who exercise free choice based on knowledge of facts will be able to make the best use of resources within their disposal such as time, money, knowledge and ability.

The author is chairman of the newly-established Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority