Comments on the United Nations Guidelines
For Consumer Protection (1985 – 2013)
by
Malaysia
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of UNCTAD.
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Paragraph 1, page 2
In general, most Member States
have adopted the core objectives
of the UNGCP. In many cases,
such as Colombia2, Costa Rica3,
the Dominican Republic4, the
European Union5, El Salvador6,
Egypt7, Mexico8,Peru9, Poland10
and Switzerland11, consumer
protection has been enshrined
within the Constitution. The
Mexican judiciary has recognized
consumer rights as human rights
and has supported its findings of
the UNGCP12. All countries have
a Consumer Protection law,
recognizing consumer rights. The
right of access to non-hazardous
products and the right to just,
equitable
and
sustainable
economic
and
social
development and environmental
protection are contained either in
consumer protection laws or
other national sectoral norms,
such
as
competition
or
environmental protection laws.
COMMENTS
Malaysia has in place adequate consumer protection laws that address the core
objectives of the UNGCP. The Consumer Protection Act 1999 provides for
consumer rights in terms of basic needs, safety, information, choice, representation,
redress and education. The Trade Description Act 2011 promotes good trade
practices by prohibiting false trade description or misleading representation of goods
and services. The more recent Competition Act 2010 prohibits anti-competitive
agreements that reduce competition for the benefits of consumers, businesses and
the economy. The Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011 enables the
Government to determine prices of essential goods or charges for services in order
to curb excessive profiteering.
Furthermore, there are redress mechanism at Ministries and Agencies for
consumers to lodge written or online complaints as well as through short messaging
system (sms).
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Paragraph 2, page 2
Regarding
the
individual
objectives set out in Part I, all
countries have a legal framework
aimed at adequate consumer
protection. However, different
countries focus on different sets
of objectives. While the goal of
curbing abusive practices that
adversely affect consumers is
unanimously recognized, the
objective
of
sustainable
consumption is seldom included
in national consumer protection
legislations13. Most commonly,
the
objectives to
facilitate
adequate
production
and
distribution
patterns;
to
encourage high levels of ethical
conduct for producers and
distributers; and to facilitate the
development of independent
consumer groups are addressed
indirectly through individual or ad
hoc governmental policies14.
Interestingly, the development of
market conditions is either
directly addressed by consumer
In the Malaysian context, sustainable consumption defined as “the use of goods and
services that respond to basic needs and bring quality of life, while minimizing the
use of natural resources, toxic materials and emissions of waste and pollutants over
the life cycle, so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations” (Oslo
Symposium, 1994), can be deemed to refer to sustainable development.
Sustainable development is underscored in the new Economic Model as an
important element in Malaysia’s transformation to a high income and developed
country by 2020.
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protection laws or reserved to the
application of competition laws15.
Most
consumer
protection
agencies hold powers over
international
cooperation16,
although this is not commonly
recognized as an individual
objective in many national legal
systems.
3.
Paragraph 3, page 3
Some
intergovernmental
organizations
have
also
embraced the objectives of the
UNGCP
and
developed
instruments and programs to
help
their Member States
achieve them. The OECD has
drafted policy instruments and
guidelines in relation to all of the
UNGCP core principles. Further,
it carries out research,promotes
information sharing and develops
policy principles17 through its
Committee on Consumer Policy
(created in 1969). At the interAmerican level, the OAS Member
States have recognized some of
these principles through the
COMMENTS
Malaysia recognizes that intergovernmental organizations can play an important role
on helping member states achieve the objectives of the UNGCP. In this regard,
Malaysia has and continues to adopt best practices and standards in consumer
protection.
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Charter of the OAS and several
General Assembly Resolutions18.
Similarly,
the
European
Commission has developed a
comprehensive policy framework
for consumer protection, as
contained in the European
Consumer Agenda,19 especially
in relation to consumer safety,
universal service and consumer
the
facilitation
of
rights,20
independent consumer groups
and the development of market
conditions within its single
market.
4.
Paragraph 4, page 3
Finally, Consumer International
suggests inclusion of consumer
participation in cultural, civic and
educational affairs with reference
to the UN Declaration on Human
Rights
and
Covenant
on
Economic Social & Cultural
Rights.
COMMENTS
The Malaysian consumer protection framework is fairly robust with adequate laws
and regulations emphasizing consumer rights, protection, education and redress
mechanism.
Malaysia is of the view that the participation of the consumer on social and cultural
rights must be bound by the local laws and international conventions acceded by
Malaysia.
For instance, Malaysia has acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on 5 July 1995. Presently,
Malaysia maintains among others reservation to Article 16(1)(a)(c)(f)(g) of the
convention which is similar to Article 10(2) of the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) where Malaysia is not a State Party
to the convention.
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Therefore, Malaysia should notify the Consumers International that the
inclusion of the consumer participation with reference to the Covenant on
Economic Social and Cultural Rights may fall within the reservation to the
Article 16(1)(a)(c)(f)(g) of CEDAW.
For Reference:
Article 16 of CEDAW:
1.
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in all matters relating to marriage and family relations and in
particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women:
(a) The same right to enter into marriage;
(c) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution;
(f) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, ward ship,
trusteeship and adoption of children, or similar institutions where these
concepts exist in national legislation; in all cases the interests of the children
shall be paramount;
(g) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choose a
family name, a profession and an occupation;
With respect to Article 16(1)(a) the Government of Malaysia declares that under the
Syariah law and the laws of Malaysia the age limit for marriage for women is sixteen
and men is eighteen.
Article 10 of ICESCR:
The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that:
1.
The widest possible protection and assistance should be accorded to the
family, which is the natural and fundamental group unit of society, particularly for its
establishment and while it is responsible for the care and education of dependent
children. Marriage must be entered into with the free consent of the intending
spouses.
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2.
Special protection should be accorded to mothers during a reasonable
period before and after childbirth. During such period working mothers should be
accorded paid leave or leave with adequate social security benefits.
3. Special measures of protection and assistance should be taken on behalf of all
children and young persons without any discrimination for reasons of parentage or
other conditions. Children and young persons should be protected from economic
and social exploitation. Their employment in work harmful to their morals or health
or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their normal development should be
punishable by law. States should also set age limits below which the paid
employment of child labour should be prohibited and punishable by law.
As such the suggestion of inclusion of consumer participation in cultural,
civic and educational affairs, with reference to the UN Declaration on Human
Rights and Covenant on Economic Social & Cultural Rights may not be
necessary in Malaysia’s case.
5.
Paragraph 8, Page 4
Instead, most reserve policy
making
for
governmental
authorities32, although some
agencies
hold
ad
hoc
agreements
with
national
universities33.
Malaysia do recognized the potential positive role of universities and public and
private enterprises in research and policy making. It can be shown when they were
appointed as members in a council involved in making policies on consumer
protection such as The National Consumer Advisory Council. Realizing the
importance of consumerism issue, certain universities do offers professional
programmes as well as having a specific faculty on consumerism for students to
learn more about consumerism.
However, Malaysia does not have any ad hoc agreement with the universities
and public and private enterprises since it was based on administrative consultation
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COMMENTS
from time to time whenever necessary.
6.
Paragraph 21, page 8
On the issue of weights and
measures, as contained in GL
2796, the majority of countries
have adopted relevant
legislation97. In many countries,
responsibility over this issue also
falls on specialized or standards
agencies98.
Mexico has established a multistakeholder
body
(Sistema
Mexicano
de
Metrología,
Normalización y Evaluación
de la Conformidad) integrating
fifteen public entities, and over
2,800 private ones. In the
Western Hemisphere, the OAS
Member States have created the
Inter-American Metrology System
in order to promote regional
cooperation
in metrology and to help achieve
the implementation of a Global
Measurement System within the
Americas.
We would like to reiterate that as prescribed by GL27 of the guideline, Malaysia
through the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism had taken
proactive measures to review the legislation pertaining to weights and measures as
well as continuously assessing the adequacy of its enforcement. The review of the
legislation as well as the related regulations aims at protecting the commercial and
economic interests of consumers as well as to comply with the regional
recommendation of the said legislation, in particular the ASEAN Consultative
Committee for Standards and Quality on Legal Metrology.
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Paragraph 25, page 10
All members have established
administrative
and
judicial
measures for consumers, and in
some
cases
consumer
organizations,
to
obtain
112
redress as set out in GL 32113.
Experience has shown that
businesses will only comply with
compulsory consumer protection
rules if there is a high likelihood
that sanctions will be imposed for
breaches of consumer protection
primary rules, or if the direct and
indirect cost of those sanctions
would
be
commercially
significant. In this sense, the
threat of significant sanctions
appears crucial for encouraging
compliance
with
consumer
protection
laws.
Consumer
protection
authorities
are
concerned not only with the
enforcement
of
consumer
protection laws through sanctions
but also with the welfare of
consumers.
In
so
doing,
sanctions can be accompanied
Malaysia has Consumer Protection Act 1999 and various administrative guidelines.
Consumer Protection Act 1999 is a consumer protection law which is enforced
through sanctions accompanied with redress measures aimed at compensating
consumers and ensuring reparations for any unlawful damages. Tribunal for
Consumer Claims handles consumers redress. However, issues of health or
environment are not provided under the Act.
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with redress measures, such as
corrective or complementary
measures. Corrective measures
are those aimed at compensating
consumers and ensuring
reparations for any unlawful
damages.
Complementary
measures cover those aimed at
ensuring
general
consumer
interests, such as health or the
environment114.
8.
Paragraph 28, page 11
There are some successful
experiences on mass media
information programmes of GL
40 132, namely in Costa Rica 136,
Dominican Republic 137, India138,
Israel139 and Poland 140. Some
consumer protection agencies
have also adopted GL 41,
especially training educators141
and the media142.
COMMENTS
Various programmes have been conducted through mass media to reach all
categories of consumers including pre-schools, primary and secondary schools as
well as the universities students.
Taking into considerations the young generations and IT savvy consumers,
consumerism campaigns were also conducted via social media such as facebook,
twitter and youtube.
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Paragraph 30, page 14
30. As mentioned in GL 56 there are three150 areas of specific concern in the current
guidelines: food, water151 and pharmaceuticals 152 . These issues have been
addressed by many consumer protection agencies albeit in an indirect manner since
other governmental authorities usually hold powers 153 . For example, on the area of
food (GLs 57 154 and 58), Colombia has implemented a programme on healthy diet
through various means (labelling, advertising, food regulations, educational
programmes) and Malaysia promotes the production of organic food155; and
conservation and sustainable utilisation of agricultural biodiversity 156. On GL 61,
Switzerland reports on a sophisticated system, which allows for an effective
regulatory and policy framework on pharmaceuticals while respecting intellectual
property157. Regarding GL 62, the United Kingdom reports on the comprehensive
regulations on pesticides in the framework of the EU.158
10.
Page 24
153 Malaysia (Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry,..)
11.
Page 25
155 Malaysian Organic Scheme