Marcel Pizzuto has been appointed chairman of the Consumer Affairs Council.

Mr Pizzuto joined the civil service as a clerical officer in 1966 and during the first years of his career worked mainly at the Department of Trade. In 1987 he moved to the Ministry for Development of the Tertiary Sector and was actively involved in the liberalization of the market and was also responsible for the dismantling of the bulk buying system.

With the coming into force of the Competition Act in 1994, Mr Pizzuto was appointed the first Director of the Office for Fair Competition. In 2000 he was appointed Director General of the Consumer and Competition Division which was set up following the amalgamation of the Office for Fair Competition and the Consumer Affairs Department.

In 2005 he was appointed Permanent Secretary at the Ministry for Competitiveness and Communications, a post which he held until he retired from the civil service earlier this year on reaching the age of 61.

The functions of the Consumer Affairs Council are wide ranging but its main role is that of advising the Minister of Finance, the Economy and Investment in the formulation of policy to be followed by the Director Consumer Affairs as well as in respect of measures for the promotion and protection of consumer interests.

It monitors the working and enforcement of laws that directly or indirectly affect the consumer in Malta. It also keeps under review trading and business practices relating to the supply of goods and services to consumers.

Dr Mireille Vella has been appointed deputy chairman while Adrian Muscat Inglott, Anthony T. Camilleri, Barbara Buttigieg, Shirley Farrugia and Stefan Xuereb are members.