Members of the Central District Community Service Consultative Council urged the government yesterday to strengthen and further promote the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law.
They made the appeal during a regular meeting at the Patane Activity Centre of the Municipal Market Complex in Avenida de Demétrio Cinatti yesterday afternoon.
Council members Huang Chengbin and Wu Hang San both said that the law should be strengthened. Huang said he was worried that ill-intentioned consumers could use the law as an excuse to return or exchange products. Huang questioned how the Consumer Council could protect the rights and interests of local consumers if the goods sold by foreign operators have quality problems after a local trade show.
Huang suggested that related bureaus and departments should promote the law to local enterprises and consumers about the law’s security extent and implementation necessity. Huang suggested setting up a Frequent Q&A (FQA) page on the Consumer Council’s website so that residents can familiarlise themselves more directly with the law.
According to Wu, residents are confused about the law. Wu said that many consumers wrongly believe that the law provides them with an efficient complaint channel. Wu said that the Consumer Council should further promote the law by giving it a clearer definition, identifying the law’s scope, and making the law more accessible through infographics.
Wu stressed that the aim of the law is to comprehensively improve Macau’s standards aside from protecting consumers. Wu urged the Consumer Council to promote the law in order to strengthen Macau’s role as a “world centre of tourism and leisure”.
The law came into force on January 1. According to an earlier statement by the Consumer Council, the law aims to safeguard consumer rights, maintain justice and fairness in the legal relationship between traders and consumers, enhance the transparency of traders’ business practices, protect the legal benefits of consumers, and combat unfair trade practices. The law consists of 86 articles.
The statement underlines that the law applies to the legal relationships between traders and consumers, but it is not applicable to the following segments of the local economy: games of chance, interactive gaming, mutual gaming or gaming activities offered to the public, medical services, educational services, legal services, accounting or audit services, financial services involving securities, or financial services for goods and products in which prices are determined according to fluctuations of the financial market.
Central District Community Service Consultative Council member Wu Hang San (second from left) addresses yesterday’s regular meeting of the government-appointed body at the Activity Centre of the Patane Municipal Market Complex yesterday afternoon. Photo: Ula Cheang
