Nikhil Aiyush Kumar 
The Consumer Council of Fiji is requesting permission to publicly identify businesses selling unsafe or substandard products as concerns grow over the number of defective goods in the marketplace.
Chief Executive Seema Shandil says the council wants the power to “name and shame” traders who repeatedly fail to meet product safety standards.
Shandil states the council does not require full enforcement powers but believes publicly identifying non-compliant traders would help protect consumers.
The council says they work closely with partners by referring issues uncovered during its monitoring and consumer complaints processes.
“But yes, we want to have the powers to name and shame the traders so that those who are continuously engaged in non-compliant behaviour.”
Shandil calls for additional authority amid growing concern about the presence of low-quality and potentially unsafe products in the market.
She adds that naming unscrupulous traders and sharing it with the media they can tell the public which ones that they need to look out for.
The Minister for Finance says that they are working with stakeholders to improver consumer protections.
“The Ministry, as well as the Advocacy of Consumer Council, will try and close those gaps. Including the Ministry of Health participation, the entry points, the borders, customs, post office. Those are areas that we’ll try to include in the changes to the regulation, as well as in the enforcement.”
The organisation says increasing consumer awareness and encouraging people to report unsafe products will be key to improving product safety and accountability in the marketplace.
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