F.O.I. executive Cecilia Vella was part of a Maltese delegation at a seminar, entitled "Enforcement of Consumer Protection", organised and fully funded by the EU Commission for three of the EU accession countries: Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Malta.
The seminar, the third in a series organised by DG Health and Consumer Protection for acceding and candidate countries in 2003-2004, was held in Vienna from December 1-3.
As in the case of the two seminars organised for Poland (Berlin, May 2003) and for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Helsinki, September 2003), the EU Commission invited representatives of consumer organisations, as well as businesses, members of the judiciary and authorities in charge of consumer affairs from the Czech Republic, Malta and Slovakia to participate.
The Maltese delegation was made up of over 30 officials representing the Consumer and Competition Division, the Consumer Claims Tribunal, the Malta Standards Authority, the Malta Tourism Authority, the Customs Department, the Malta Communications Authority, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, the Malta Maritime Authority, the Market Surveillance Directorate, the EU Directorate, the Health Promotion Department, the building and construction industry, as well as representatives of the FOI, General Retailers and Traders Union (GRTU), the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, together with the Consumers' Association.
Following the opening session of the seminar, three working sessions were held on Protection of Economic Interests of Consumers; General Product Safety; and Information and Education of Consumers and Role of Consumer Organisations and Relations with State Bodies.
Throughout these sessions, the Maltese delegation participated extensively and highlighted queries related to consumer credit; transposition of EU directives; guidelines for timeshare practice; involvement of the social partners; out of court settlements; enforcement actions; penalties issued on non-compliance; definitions in EU directives; mutual recognition; co-operation with non-EU countries' Customs authorities; and consignments in transit.
On the third day, brainstorming sessions ran in parallel by country, with each national delegation discussing the findings and observations from the earlier working sessions.
The observations of the Maltese delegation were then outlined in a presentation delivered by the Malta rapporteur, Dr Theresienne Bezzina from the Consumer and Competition Division. Dr Bezzina's presentation highlighted issues related to product safety; cross-border transactions (referring also to the European Consumer Centre); information and awareness; consumer credit; and consumer organisations.
The event not only enabled a practical discussion of consumer issues between speakers and the relevant stakeholders from the accession countries participating at the seminar, but also facilitated communication among the stakeholders of each participating country.
In fact, the Consumer and Competition Division officials present at the event confirmed that they planned to hold a series of consultations with the stakeholders in the local scene.
Among the points raised in the seminar, it was interesting to note that Slovakia and the Czech Republic are in the same situation as Malta, with an apparent lack of co-operation and co-ordination between local ministries and government bodies when it comes to consumer protection, as well as the need to increase consumer awareness and information on aspects like consumer rights and sources of redress.