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News
Consumer
protection laws like closed economy rules Speaking on
"An Overall Overview of the Consumer Affairs Authority Act
and its legal implications" at a recent seminar on "Insight
into the Consumer Affairs Authority Act" organized by the National
Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka, he said the law has now vested
powers in the minister to be in a position to decide the prices
of products and what items to be considered as essential. Appointing
members to the Consumer Protection Authority by the minister would
not be a sound practice. They should be selected through a neutral
committee with chamber representatives and bodies like the Legal
Aid Foundation or through non-political institutions like the Judicial
Service Commission or the Constitutional Council. The appointment
of members to the Consumer Protection Council, which would be called
upon to consider issues likes price fixing and monopolies, by the
minister and their removal at the beginning of every new government
would be very harmful to its work. He said that it was important
that parties affected by decisions taken by political appointees
should have the right to seek redress through Court. He said that
though the Consumer Protection Law was adopted and ratified it was
not made available for the public for study. The law affected the
industrialists, traders and consumers but still the public was denied
an opportunity to study it. He said that
the Authority has already issued a directive to the Liquid Petroleum
Gas Distribution Companies to accept LP Gas Cylinders for refilling
without discrimination and the trader now would have to accept any
cylinder. Wijeratne said
that one of the main issues raised by the Legal Aid Foundation (LAF)
is that the CPA has to be an impartial body and it should not consist
of political appointees. He said that the United States is the global
leader of trade and provides the best consumer protection. In European
Union countries consumer disputes have been resolved through conciliation
councils. He said that in India under its consumer protection laws
there were consumer tribunals. If amendments were to be moved the
important conciliation concept should be included. The present
law has left out the main features of modern consumer protection
legislation. The general features of consumer protection have been
a universal subject and the United Nations in 1999 adopted these
general principles. Trade is not only within the country, it is
now global and therefore certain general principles of consumer
protection have to be adopted. He said there are seven such general
UN principles pertaining to consumer protection to ensure health,
safety of people, to protect and promote trade, to provide access
to information and to educate the consumer to make an independent
choice. There should
be information about the product and there are journals in other
countries that provide sufficient details about products but in
Sri Lanka such facilities are not made available to compare the
quality of goods. It should also educate the consumer on developments
in trade and industry; permit consumers to seek redress through
conciliation boards and ensure that punishment is meted out to wrong
doers. He said that
consumer societies established by consumers themselves also could
play a vital role to protect the consumer but in Sri Lanka consumer
societies were established at the behest of the state's Consumer
Authority which would have different values and objectives. He proposed
that UN principles be incorporated in the preamble of the Act so
that in the event of litigation the court could look at it in interpreting
the law. Prof A.D.V. de S Indraratne, Chairman, Fair Trading Commission spoke on "The Consumer Affairs Authority Act in the overall context of competition policy in Sri Lanka"; Dr. Anura Ekanayake, Director, Human Resources and Corporate Affairs, Unilever Ceylon Ltd spoke on "Implications of the Consumer Affairs Authority Act on the business community" while Ranel Wijesinha, former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and Chairman, Ayojana Fund Management (Pvt) Ltd. spoke on "Additional Perspectives of the Consumer Affairs Authority Act". J-Biz
concerned over Chandrika-Ranil clash The J-Biz,
which comprises National Level Chambers of Commerce and Industry,
Trade Associations and Employers' Organizations, said in a statement
that it felt that issues of this nature should be resolved through
a process of consultation with the parties concerned in complying
with the constitutional provisions and should not, in any way, be
allowed to damage the peaceful cohabitation at the helm of the political
structure. "It is
unfortunate that matters of this nature take the frontline news
headlines and draw the attention of the country and the international
community at a time Sri Lanka is trying to bring the peace process
back on track with the help of the international community, re-gain
investor confidence and convince the donor community on the urgent
need to support the country's massive reconstruction and development
initiatives." J-Biz said
it was convinced this is the last opportunity for the country's
economic revival and peace and should not be lost. It earnestly
urged both the President and the Prime Minister to resolve the present
crisis immediately by maintaining the culture of mutual consultation
and address the issue as per the constitution and not to allow the
peaceful cohabitation be damaged by incidents of this nature. The
Joint Business Forum comprises the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, The
National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka, The Ceylon National Chamber
of Industries, The Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry
of Sri Lanka, The National Chamber of Exporters, The International
Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka, The Exporters' Association of
Sri Lanka and the Bankers' Association of Sri Lanka. Unilever
lessons at LBR-LBO CEO Forum "We have
a compelling vision. It is to double our business over the next
five years and to maximise shareholder value by focusing on those
parts that have the greatest growth potential and exiting from those
where others can do a better job than us," said Unilever Ceylon
CEO Ehsan Malik speaking at the 6th "Lanka Business Report
(LBR) - Lanka Business Online (LBO) CEO Forum" held in Colombo
recently. Malik was the
keynote speaker at the event organised by Vanguard Management Services
(Pvt) Ltd. In his address,
titled 'Making an Elephant Fly', Malik outlined why the leading
FMCG company in Sri Lanka needs to change and how he and his team
are bringing this about. He stressed that only organisations willing
to change, however painful, are the companies that will ultimately
survive. "It is
not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent,
but the ones most responsive to change", said Malik, quoting
Charles Darwin. Under his guidance, Unilever Ceylon has changed
from a large but somewhat lethargic multinational to recording the
highest growth within Unilever in the region. Speaking at the event, Lakshman Bandaranayaka, Managing Director of Vanguard Management Services said, "Since we (Vanguard) entered the media market with the re-launch of Etv in 1998, it has been our intention to play a truly pivotal role in Sri Lanka's media landscape. "That intention gave birth to Lanka Business Report, the subsequent launch of Lanka Business Online and Lanka Viyaparika Puwath and of course, this Forum." Garments
show in Sri Lanka It will be
held during September 18 - 21, 2003 and is expected to be patronised
by international buyers and local buying office representatives
as well as the manufacturers themselves. Seminars on industry related
topics, fashion shows and cultural events will take place daily. In most export industries the buyer comes in contact with the manufacturer only at the "end product" stage. But in the case of the garment industry, buyers' contact is long before the raw material goes in for production. The buyer needs to see the backward integration available for these factories in order to perform efficiently, not only within the factory, but also in the industry as a whole. It is therefore important that we convince the buyers of the availability of accessories, fabrics, machinery and after sales service, a statement form the organisers said. Industrial
automation leader plans Sri Lanka launch Rockwell Automation,
a $ 4.3 billion leader in industrial automation solutions, said
in a statement it wants to establish its presence in Sri Lanka and
support its existing base. Rockwell products
are presently being used by leading FMCG companies like Nestle,
Lever, ITC and BAT, in the consumer and food processing industry
in Sri Lanka. Ranjan De, President and Country Manager of Rockwell
Automation India stated that it is necessary to set up authorised
channel networks in Sri Lanka because of the growing presence of
its customers who need regular support. The company
is a world-leading provider of industrial automation power, control
and information solutions that help customers meet its manufacturing
productivity objectives. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis, USA, the
company employs about 23,000 people at more than 450 locations serving
customers in more than 80 countries. Kenwood
teams up with Hayleys This would
initially see the introduction of 20 different appliances including
the celebrated Kenwood kitchen machines known as the Kenwood Chef,
versatile food processors, microwaves, rice cookers, toasters, blenders,
jug kettles, dry and steam irons and vacuum cleaners offering quality
products synonymous with Kenwood for generations, the company said.
The agency
for Kenwood was previously held by St. Anthony's Consolidated Ltd.
Hayleys Consumer Products Ltd distributes and markets an extensive range of consumer products from major international and local brands. |
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