Strengthening Consumer Protection and Regulating Unregistered Products

Consumer protection efforts must not be limited to cracking down on traditional forms of fraud, such as discrepancies in weight or price violations; rather, they must extend to areas that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry appears to be unaware of, and this is the most dangerous aspect. How can there be a consumer protection agency without the necessary foundations or without a strong and vigilant apparatus capable of addressing all the methods of fraud and deception that occur under the guise of an “open market”? We do not in any way underestimate the importance of this agency; however, our intention here is to emphasize the necessity of expanding its scope of activity to encompass all consumer-related activities. as the law has granted it full authority to cover these areas. Yet we find that its scope of activity is limited and does not extend beyond one or two commodities at most. The Consumer Protection Agency at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry must be aware that there are goods circulating in the local market at prices that do not match their quality, but are sold at prices competitive with high-quality goods, even though they themselves fall far short of those quality standards. We see this extensively in food products, This also applies to spare parts and other consumer goods such as toilet paper, etc. The area that prompted me to write is that of chemical products, particularly disinfectants and sanitizers, which are subject to the provisions of the Medicines Law regarding testing, compliance with specifications, and registration with the relevant authorities at the Ministry of Public Health, and this, of course, is to protect public health. The issue we are raising with the relevant consumer protection authorities at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is: How is it permissible for certain types of disinfectants and sanitizers to be sold in cooperative societies as well as in private markets without being approved and registered by the Ministry of Public Health? There is no doubt that this phenomenon reflects the importer’s bad faith and his tendency to evade government oversight; therefore, he seeks to introduce his goods into the local market, knowing full well Not only will this not be approved by the competent authorities, but the importer also deliberately markets his goods in a form closely resembling that of products officially registered and approved by the authorized health authorities. All of this takes place under the watchful eyes of the relevant authorities at the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and even before the Union of Cooperative Societies itself, which has appointed itself as the guardian of consumer protection in the country. In fact, it can be said that the Union of Cooperative Societies has deliberately participated in this matter, when it introduced its new product without registration, because its experts knew it would not receive approval and would not be registered. Therefore, it simply relied on its vast market to circulate a product that requires special scrutiny regarding quality and compliance with specifications. The issue at hand concerns health, prevention, and treatment, so the matter must take a special course away from price competition under the guise of protection. Furthermore, the matter went too far when the Union resorted to placing usage instructions on its product, knowing that this disinfectant formula is no stronger than 8 units, while the disinfectant’s strength did not exceed just 2 units, meaning that if a consumer follows these instructions, the cooperative’s disinfectant loses its effectiveness entirely and becomes far removed from the term “disinfectant” or “sterilizer.” It would have been better for the union’s officials to correct this information to protect citizens’ health rather than thinking only of securing a lucrative return under the guise of a competitive price for an unidentified product, since it is an unregistered product under the current regulations, not to mention the harm this liquid could cause, especially when used externally. If this issue is not addressed, it will open the door to failure for many, including the Cooperative Societies Union itself.