Parliament yesterday unanimously approved a Bill to bring Malta’s consumer laws in line with a 2005 EU directive.
Speaking about the government’s plans, Consumer Affairs Minister Helena Dalli said the government was working to improve the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority to make it easier for consumers to seek remedy.
It was important to educate consumers in this regard and make them more assertive.
Sellers, on the other hand, needed to recognise that by providing good customer service they would be earning the consumer’s loyalty, which would result in positive word-of-mouth publicity.
An operations review of the MCCAA had confirmed that the previous administration had wrongly set up the regulator but left it to face a number of problems.
Workers had long been asking for a transfer due to the dangerous environment in which they had been working.
It was shameful that the PN government had ignored the employees’ health and allowed them to work in an office with an asbestos ceiling and sealed windows.
The government was now working to restore a sense of belonging and train the workers.
The European Commission analysed details of the complaints made by different EU countries and presented them in reports and scoreboards.
Workers would now be trained to make use of this information and to directly participate in the European consumer protec-tion network.
Dr Dalli said the government had invested in electronic tools to make it easier for the public to submit complaints online.
This formed part of the government’s strategy to cut bureaucracy. It was the government’s aim to conduct a consultation process with consumer groups and the public to submit proposals for changes to consumer legislation this year.
Opposition MP Paula Mifsud Bonnici took the government to task for failing to give due importance to consumers.
She said the previous administration had set up the Malta Consumer Affairs Authority in 2011 with the aim of promoting competition and consu-mer policies.
Another objective was to promote voluntary standards, a national strategy for metrology and the transposition of technical regulations, together with other functions.
The PN government had established a strong regulatory body.
It had appointed an experienced administrator as its chairman who, though doing three different roles, received one salary.
He was removed from his post despite his international reputation on consumer affairs. She said that EU statistics showed that in Malta only 36 per cent of consumers were satisfied that their complaints were followed up.
She accused the government of failing to lower prices for medicinal products, adding that consumers had to incur more expenses when they had to buy medicine that was out of stock.
Sellers needed to recognise that by providing good customer service they would be earning the consumer’s loyalty
The previous administration had established more than 1,600 different standards and had also issued guidelines for street hawkers. It had been advising consumers on buying products over the internet.
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that Dr Dalli had never really answered in a satisfactory way about how the meteorological laboratories were being run.
The consumer tribunal appeals board was doing good work and, in many cases, consensus was being reached.
However, nothing was known about how the minister planned to strengthen the tribunal.
She said the board members included three people with Labour connections.
Was that meritocracy? What was the minister doing to upgrade the fire escape at the back of the building where the MCCAA was housed, a serious matter which should be seen to?
The minister had to pay more attention to the situation at the MCCAA and stop referring to what happened under previous administrations.
There was a persistent rumour that there would be an increase in bus fares. Would the minister assure commuters bus fares would not rise?
Dr Mifsud Bonnici said that because of shortcomings, the consumer affairs authority should no longer fall under Dr Dalli’s ministry.
Anthony Agius Decelis (PL) said Maltese consumers had changed their way of purchasing goods. More people were buying products online but these too needed to be protected from fraud.
He spoke of an acquaintance who wanted to buy a car online from a website in the EU but was defrauded because, after making the bank transaction, the website disappeared. It was even more worrying that this happened within the EU.
Mr Agius Decelis said that while certain medicinals were purchased on the internet, no one could determine whether the products were original and genuine.
A person who bought pills online to treat a condition he was suffering from could be putting his life in jeopardy and, therefore, accurate information should be provided.
It was important to reduce poverty so that consumers could purchase products to improve their lives.
He encouraged stakeholders to give their input in order to equip consumers with the best possible tools.
David Agius (PN) appealed to the minister to ensure that consumers had the best choice of TV channels.
PBS should not only broadcast World Cup matches but should also screen other events such as tennis matches and opera.
Ċensu Galea (PN) said that while Parliament was transposing EU directives on consumer affairs in Maltese legislation, one should ensure that traders abided by the law.
EU member states had set up authorities to ensure consumers’ rights: the Consumer Affairs Authority, the Consumer Affairs Department and the Consumer Claims Tribunal.
It was futile setting up a committee to monitor med-icine prices overseas with the aim of setting similar prices in Malta when such commit-tee did not meet or no action was taken.
Mr Galea said it was not enough for the authority’s powers to be written out in a law, they had to be put into practice by those who technically had the appropriate knowledge to carry them out.
Concluding, Mr Galea hoped that the necessary changes would occur.
Dr Dalli’s winding up speech will be carried tomorrow.