The trade ministry has called on consumers to be aware of their rights and not get carried away by misleading advertisements. Addressing a conference on consumer rights protection here yesterday, the Minister of State for International Cooperation and Acting Minister of Business and Trade H E Dr Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, said the consumer protection law has created public awareness since its enforcement last year. He was speaking after opening Qatar’s First Conference on Consumer Protection. An exhibition of counterfeit products was held on the sidelines of the conference yesterday at the Doha Sheraton. The law has evoked good response from all segments of society including the consumers, traders, public sector and civic societies and this is due to the awareness-raising campaigns conducted by the Consumer Protection Department. The minister described the conference theme “Consumer protection is everyone’s responsibility” as a comprehensive slogan, saying that consumer protection is not only the duty of the state or civil society organizations or traders, but also the responsibility of consumers themselves. The Minister stressed that the enactment of Law No. 8 of 2008 on consumer protection was one of the important additions to modern legislative system in Qatar, which is witnessing extensive expansion, to meet the requirement of the economic, social and cultural development in order to sustain the progress and prosperity of the society under the wise leadership the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The principles and laws of the consumer protection today represents a firm global trend endorsed by the UN conventions and legislations that are abided by most of the world countries, referring to the increasing adoption of standards and principles of consumer protection in the recent years, the minister said. In view of this the government intervention to control and monitor the commercial markets has become inevitable to impose laws and appropriate legislations to protect consumer and reduce the negative impacts of the policies of dumping and piracy as well as property rights violations, and to help consumers increase their capacities to self-consumption pattern adjustment and protect their interests. He added that the goal of consumer protection is not only to monitor and control prices or irregularities, but to bring an integrated system of standards with an ultimate goal to create a clean business environment that takes into account the interests of all parties, especially the consumer. Concluding his speech, the Minister thanked traders who responded to government call and agreed to freeze a package of essential items during the last Holly month of Ramadan. He also called upon the participants to study all the topics at this conference in order to achieve the conference’s goals and come up with recommendations that will lead to activating the process of the joint work in this regard. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=February2010&file=Local_News2010021862925.xml

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