The Parliamentary Assistant in the Resources Ministry, Philip Mifsud, yesterday called on the government to verify the prices for agricultural products including pesticides and medicines and if needed revise prices down as happened with the prices of medicines for human consumption.
Mr Mifsud said that he had received complaints from local breeders and farmers that they had bought pesticides and medicines for animal consumption at cheaper prices from Sicily.
He praised the government for the action taken to lower the prices of a number of medicines after it was found that these were sold much cheaper in a number of European countries.
He said that Malta practised a free market economy and in principle the government would not interfere. However it had to perform a correctional exercise on the prices of medicines.
He said that these incidents showed that the government cared and upheld consumer rights. He also praised the local breeders’ cooperative KIM for embarking on a promotional campaign for the consumption of local meat. He called on other companies to promote also locally made products.
Mr Mifsud complained that communications companies in Malta advertised their products on the telephone line while they left consumers waiting to be connected in cases of complaints.
He concluded that protection of consumer rights led to a higher quality of life.
Karl Gouder (PN) said the bill on fair competition and consumer protection would strengthen the economy and attract more investment.
The Bill guaranteed investors all facilities to operate in Malta under fair competition rules. It supported the entrepreneur and created a climate of trust while giving the right of redress. In this way it was promoting economic growth.
Another aim of the Bill was to promote consumer policy. Mr Gouder said that after sales services offered by companies and importers were often weak. This could lead to the infringement of the right of consumers to be satisfied with the product.
The Bill also addressed the issue of standards, the national metro-logy strategy and established also the technical regulations divisions. He said that these services were all linked with competition rules and consumer protection.
Mr Gouder added that one of the issues tackled by the office of fair competition regarded the position of dominance by certain companies in the market.
The department of consumer protection tackled complaints by consumers on matters of dissatisfaction with a product or service.
The technical regulations division focussed on conformity to regulations and surveillance on products in the market. It ensured that products in the market were safe.
The institute for standards and metrology was concerned with certification and ensured high standards.
Mr Gouder concluded that the fact that the bill ensured high standards, consumer protection and fair competition brought a climate of trust and strengthened the economy.
Nationalist MP Jean Pierre Farrugia said one needed to have a long-term view, as well as look at UK’s Ofcom body as a model.
Mr Farrugia deplored the fact that Owen Bonnici’s earlier speech spoke critically of consumer affairs bodies and certain persons linked to them. He defended Dr Antoine Grima, who no longer worked for the body, as being person of integrity.
Turning to the issue of fair competition in sports-related media, Dr Farrugia said the European Union did not allow for long-term exclusivity as it would be of detriment to competition. Currently, the local consumer needed to subscribe to more than one service provider to get the whole coverage he expected. Apart from that, one needed to subscribe to a sports channel as well as special packages at an extra cost.
Malta needed to look at the way the UK body, Ofcom, dealt with the issue of sports rights in the media. He praised Ofcom’s numerous reports, product market analysis, sustainability of price ranges, the geographical market, and market share and client’s subscription research. Ofcom also assessed demand substitutability.
Why did Malta not follow Ofcom’s steps? The persons running the Fair Competition Office did not have the means to avoid the current circumstances due to lack of manpower. Despite the lack of manpower, the office showed that it was strong enough to stand up for consumers and go against government agencies, including Enemalta Corporation and the Transport Authority.
It was important that consumer rights structures were strengthened. He called for the avoidance of the overlapping of functions as this would result in a waste of resources.
Speaking about the Consumer Affairs legislation introduced in Parliament in 2008, Dr Farrugia said that one had to reconsider whether the deterrent was to be included in the new Bill.
It was paramount, he said, that guidelines were introduced within the consumer arm of the new authority. The Bill failed to address the way the directors of the two bodies would liaise between them.
Concluding, Mr Farrugia suggested further emphasis in the sphere of consumer rights relating to health. It was crucial and necessary to introduce guidelines and suggested a 24-hour, seven-day service at health centres to avoid larger queues of people going to the emergency department at Mater Dei Hospital.