Amira El-Noshokaty checks out how Egypt's first consumer protection law is faring in practice For the past few months advertisements have been flooding local radio and television channels with awareness campaigns on consumers rights, the importance of keeping receipts and a hotline for complaints. Finally Egyptians can get even and have a say when it comes to damaged goods and greedy vendors, with their very own consumer protection law, first issued in 2006. This law was promoted by Egyptian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for consumer protection for over a decade. They called for the establishment of a Consumer Protection Agency (CPA) which falls under the umbrella of the Ministry of Trade and Industry in partnership with 10 consumer protection NGOs. "This law is the first of its kind," explained Amr Fahim, executive director of the CPA to Al-Ahram Weekly. The law is more of a general frame for consumer protection and the details should be added and amended gradually while it is being put into practice. "The policy of returning or refunding a product, for example, is limited to a maximum of 14 days, but this certainly wouldn't be applicable to products like pastries, as they will never last that long," added Fahim. The CPA's efforts are not limited to awareness campaigns. There are several cases of fraudulent advertisements and damaged goods that went to court. Their hotline service, since it started this January, covers greater Cairo and will reach Alexandria by the end of this year, covering 70 per cent of Egypt's trade zone. From November 2006 to June 2008, the CPA received 6474 complaints of which 84 per cent were solved. The media awareness campaign is a long-term strategy that started with depicting the importance of keeping a bill that proves that you had bought the good. There have been three different advertisements since January 2008 on national television. There is also an online service, a fax line and free complaint form that is found at all post offices in the country. As for consumer awareness, many consumers have indeed noticed the advertisement campaign, including architect Manal Raslan who dialed the hotline to complain about sour milk she just bought. But Raslan was disappointed to hear that she has to try to return the goods to the shop first, that only if they refused to redeem the purchase would CPA interfere. According to Mohsen Abdel-Wahab, chairperson of Al-Qobba consumer protection NGO, one of the 10 partners of the CPA, "the CPA hotline or any affiliated consumer rights NGO comes in to action only if the vendor refuses to return or exchange the commodity. Only then, can we take appropriate action given the fact that the consumer keeps the receipt,". In general, consumer protection NGOs are dedicated to raise awareness of commercial fraud; however, the consumer protection law also granted such NGOs the right to conduct a comparative study on commodity prices in various stores, and to lead campaigns against different food stores if they violate laws. They are not given the power to inspect but rather insure that the products are presented the way the law is stated. And last but not least, the law grants the NGOs the right to file a suit against whoever commits commercial fraud, with no legal fees necessary. "I got a call from a consumer who found blood in her chicken and the restaurant chain refused to take the blame. Our NGO took it from there until the man in charge was fired," stated Abdel-Wahab. He said that most of the complaints are solved on the NGO level, unless the supplier refuses to cooperate. "In that case we go to the CPA which has the right to launch a legal action. This is what happened to a mobile company that sold bad mobile batteries and their case was taken to the district attorney," said Abdel-Wahab. Since the 1990s, lots of consumer protection NGOs have been established -- 77 in total. However, after issuing the 2006 consumer protection law, their numbers increased, for the law allowed existing NGOs to add consumer protection to their activity list. Out of the 77 consumer protection NGOs, only 10 were handpicked to be sponsored, trained and affiliated with the CPA, in Greater Cairo, Upper Egypt, Alexandria and the Delta. The lower middle class consumers are hardly even aware of, let alone optimistic about, all such efforts. A middle-aged employee who refused to give his name to the Weekly, said he has never heard about consumer protection. "How would they protect us from monopoly for instance? Why are they focussed on small suppliers, instead of the big factories or those who import bad goods to begin with?" To taxi driver Ahmed Ibrahim, the idea of consumer protection is not that practical so long as the economy of the country is in bad shape. "People are keen on selling something and would refuse to refund it. Take my relative who lives in the United States for instance. After buying a recorder, he found out that there is another type with better audio quality at the same price, so he returned the recorder after one month and they refunded him," commented Ibrahim, adding that the bottom line is that the underprivileged citizen is the least protected in this country. "Take local cigarettes which cost LE2.5 a pack, now LE2.75 and are sold near my house in Shubra for LE3," Ibrahim continued. "When I complained to the Ministry of Supplies they told me to go buy from somewhere else. What about all the times the cigarettes are either dry, damaged or not matching the weight that is written on the package, and the fact that all local cigarettes are owned by one company?" Ibrahim asked. He questioned the ability of the CPA to protect him from the drastic increase of the prices of staples such as sunflower oil and rice, for example, that went up from LE4.5 to LE7 and even LE13. According to Abdel-Wahab, the continuous increase in prices is a much bigger problem than the CPA or NGOs can solve. He explained that Egypt's unfortunate switch from socialism to capitalism transformed the economy from a directed one to an open economy; hence, the banning of the state obligatory pricing system, leaving prices to the law of supply and demand. Now if there is an increase in the American corn prices, for instance, it affects corn oil in Egypt. "If the government wants Egypt to be part of the international market, then they should match the salaries for Egyptian citizens with their European and US counterparts. It's not a question of greedy vendors; it's a question of a country's politics," Abdel-Wahab lamented, saying things will only get worse. "A week ago, the ministers of trade and industry and of agriculture declared that there might be another increase in the price of cheese and dairy products of 10 to 15 per cent, the reason being a poor US corn harvest. The government should have a plan for self sufficiency of strategic commodities such as wheat and corn oil," complained Abdel-Wahab. Qobba and the other 10 consumer protection NGOs distribute a monthly newsletter to citizens in their districts in order to raise consumer awareness. It includes a comparative study on the prices of goods in chain stores nationwide so consumers can make informed decisions while buying any product.
