Consumers’ rights and traders’ obligations Thursday, 14 October 2010 03:28

esults of tests conducted by the Ministry of Environment on shampoos has stoked the fears of consumers and left them suspecting the credibility of many widely circulated products. The decision of withdrawing two kinds of shampoo from the market followed the non-compliance of the results of test made by the Ministry of Environment with standards, where those two kinds of shamppos including Dioxane that causes cancer, cirrhosis and kidney fibrosis. Undoubtedly, that the product was withdrawn from circulation has been used by many consumers. Fortunately, incompliance with standards was discovered accidently during a market survey conducted by Ministry of Environment’s Laboratories and standardisation Unit. Consumer’s Protection Department brought the consumers’ attention not to use the product and withdrew it from markets.

For the seriousness of this matter, we shed the light on the consumer’s rights and provider’s obligations along with the role of Law in regulation of the relation between them. Law No. 8 of 2008, concerning the consumer’s protection issued by the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and published in the daily newspaper on July 25, 2008, states that the consumer is any one retains any merchandise or service with or without consideration, or is being dealt or contracted with them for such services or merchandises. Provider is any one who provides service or manufactures the merchandise, distributes, trades, sells, exports, imports or interferes in producing or circulating them in order to offer them to consumer or deal or contract with consumer for them in any ways.

‘Advertiser’ means any one who advertises or promotes a merchandise or a service by themselves or by others using different means of advertisement and publication. ‘Merchandise’ is every manufactured, agricultural, animal or converted product, including raw materials and ingredients of the product.

• Furthermore, the Law states that the fundamental consumer’s rights are guaranteed by the provisions of the Law and no one is permitted to conduct any agreement or practice any activity with prejudice to the following consumer’s rights:

1. The right to health and safety when using the merchandise and services.

2. The right to obtain correct information and data of merchandise and services brought, used or offered.

3. The right in free choice of merchandise and services including compliance with quality standards.

4. The right of obtaining the information relating to the protection of consumer’s rights and their legitimate interests.

5. The right of filing lawsuits for everything contradicting or prejudicing consumer’s rights.

6. Consumer’s right in litigation for damages against them or their money resulting from purchasing or using merchandise or services; otherwise no agreement shall be valid.

• The Law indicates the provider’s obligation “merchant – distributor” with the following:

1. The provider shall be obliged to take back the merchandise and pay back its value, replace or repair it without consideration in case of discovering any fault or if they are not complied with the decided standards or the thing upon with the agreement has been made.

2. Selling, offering, presenting, promoting or advertising any deluded or rotten merchandises shall be prohibited. The merchandise is considered as deluded or rotten if it is not complied with decided standards or not valid for use or expired.

3. The provider shall guarantee the compliance of the merchandise or service with the declared approved standards. It also shall be accountable for commitment to public health and safety.

4. Provider, once discovered a fault in the merchandise or the service hurting the consumer when using them, shall notify the competent authority in the Ministry and the consumer with the potential damages and how to be protected against in addition to withdraw the faulted merchandise from markets immediately and to announce that.