Room for improvement in Consumer Safety and Product Control

Mar 18, 2010 News

A large quantity of consumer goods ranging from clothing and textiles to hardware and food products, enter the country on a daily basis of these there are numerous ‘legitimate’ imports and then there are those products that arrive via other less acceptable routes and methods.
In an age where shaving costs and hiding the evidence is the norm a significant portion of products that make it to the global market are substandard in nature.
The situation creates a responsibility on the government of every country to ensure that citizens are protected from potentially dangerous materials and products. Consumers must also be saved the pain of losing hard earned dollars behind inferior products.
President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Mr. Chandradat Chintamani, pointed out that the country is partaking freely of the global market; there is an increase in the influx of foreign investors and with them foreign products as well.
He said, “We may not have the right regulations in place to enforce quality control; so, now may be the appropriate time to invest in training and building our capacity and regulations so that we can start enforcing standards of what we believe to be the correct products for our market. Once we allow the explosion to take place it becomes a huge challenge to control it thereafter.”
The lot of consumer safety and product controls falls to the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce and under its umbrella the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS). The Bureau which initially began monitoring the labeling specifications in the country some years back has moved forward to product control on some two dozen popular commodities, with the intention of expanding into a few more in the next few months.
According to Mr. Shailendra Rai, Head of the Legal Metrology and Standard Compliance Department, GNBS, the Bureau is currently engaged in ensuring safety and quality compliance for Domestic Electronic Devices and a number of other goods, ranging from motorcycle helmets and seat belts to electricity and water meters as well as cell phones.
The aim is to expand into the areas of textiles, garments and footwear in the course of this year. As such the body recently invested in equipment and training for their personnel, under these commodity groups.
However, according to Mr. Rai, the agency is still unable to physically inspect and monitor the status of just these few commodities and have had to depend on the certification marks and numbers issued by third party testing bodies around the globe.
This practice, however, leaves room for unscrupulous manufacturers who duplicate the marks of these certifying bodies in an attempt to pass the products off at standards they do not meet.
The dangers of these types of products are varied and range from risk of death or serious health complications during use to monetary losses as a result of ineffective performance. Consumers are advised to be vigilant in their purchases and ensure that they retain all important receipts and warranties in the event of issues that need to be addressed.
However there are contentions that there can be more done in the area, especially in the area of legislation; the Ministry will finally be tabling the Consumer Protection Act in Parliament some time this year – an act that has been floating around in draft form since 2004.
According to the Bureau they are also not the only

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Room for improvement in Consumer Safety and Product Control

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