 Good day. Welcome to Issues and Answers, a production of the Government Information Service. I'm your host for today, Jacques Kingston Compton. With me today, I have director of the Consumer Affairs Department, Mr. Gayom Simon, and former president of the National Consumers Association, Mr. Hubert James. We'll be talking about their respective organizations. Gentlemen, welcome to the program. Thank you. Thank you. Part of by Mr. Simon, why don't you explain what is the role of the Consumer Affairs Department? Okay, Jacques. The Consumer Affairs Department was really established sometime around 1997 or about. Essentially, for greater protection to consumers, to champion the cause of the consumer. Previously, we had a department, what was called the Price Control Department, whose department was actually limited in scope. They became the need to broaden the scope of the department, encapsulating all of the areas which impact the consumer. As you will appreciate, with trade, we've opened up our borders. We get a flood of products coming in from all over the globe. More export was products and services coming in out of non-traditional markets. So, they became the need now to offer that greater level of protection to consumers. Could you clarify a little bit on what you mean by non-traditional? Previously, our markets were good to come out of our markets, out of England or the U.S. You have Latin America, you have Asian countries. We trade all around the globe right now. And a number of products were actually coming into the market. And the issue of standards, the issue of quality of products, all of those became concerns that government recognized that they need to put mechanisms in place to protect the consumer. And Mr. James, could you talk a little bit about your organization? Well, the National Consumer Association was formed to exactly do what Mr. Simon have said, to protect the consumer, give them their rights. Because long ago, they had no rights. You buy something and the whims and fancy of the business they want to change it for you if it's not good or else you have to accept what you do. So, that propelled the formation of the National Consumer Association, which we said in 2002. We said that thing with Andrew and Toa, and a whole set of us came together to form the National Consumer Association. It has evolved over the years, and we have even reached the stage of trying to get legislation, and try to get things going, and so that we'll be able to give the consumer better protection and greater rights and the things that the service has been provided for them. And not just that, you'll provide a dispute and finish with that. So, the National Consumer Association is to champion the cause of more of the defenceless. So, if I am a lay person, why should I join your organization? It is important because the National Consumer Association is an independent organization. And it needs to be able to meet its needs, its expenses, like the office rent, and the phones and the things. So, therefore, when a person joins, number one, the more personnel of the strength is, the more personnel, the more strength you have, you're able to have a greater voice in the market and in the world, and also can shift a little bit of government policies. So, by joining the National Consumer Association, you're going to strengthen their hands, numbers are going to force the government to do what's supposed to be done, and the consumer themselves will have greater see what's happening outside. Okay, and the misty. If I could just add, all of this really stems from, again, the treaties that we signed. We signed onto the revised treaty of Shah-Gramat, and on the chapter eight of that revised treaty, it obliges governments to set up those free works that will protect the consumer. And also, a call for, a cause for action for the consumer organizations, like the National Consumer Authority, National Consumer Association, right? So, it mandates government to ensure that those free works are in place to allow for transparency, to allow for consumer issues to be heard, consumer issues to be voiced, consumer issues to be advocated about. This is what the NCA really is, an advocacy and lobbying organization, which is different from Consumer Affairs Department, where we're more of the regulatory and administrative of consumer protection. Now, back to your department, Mr. Simon, what sort of services does your department offer? What, if I call the Consumer Affairs Department, what sort of things can I hope to gain from that? Essentially, the Consumer Affairs Department performs really two primary roles, really one of consumer education and empowerment, one of consumer protection, where we actually seek address on behalf of consumers whose rights may have been infringed upon. So, if you call the Consumer Affairs Department, we can offer training in terms of empowering the consumers. We've worked as well with businesses, empowering businesses to understand the rights of consumers and to ensure that they actually don't infringe on those rights and they actually understand their obligations as a supplier as well. Over the years, we have offered interest to quite a bit of consumers who may have been aggrieved by either by some product or they are not satisfied with some service and of course will require our intervention in terms of bringing in about redress for the complaints. Now, you mentioned redress. What forms of redress can one hope to gain if they feel like they have been wronged by a product or a service? Essentially, there are four forms of redress. So, one could easily get a refund, of course, if it is a product and the product is faulty, it could be an exchange or the product could be repaired. And of course, the last form really of redress is that it could be a form of credit note or what we call an IOU note, that credit note that you can redeem within three to six months and get something that's of value thereabout. So, essentially, there are four forms of redress which the consumer can benefit from. And speaking a little bit more on redress, is the consumer protected in this entire process? The consumer needs greater protection. I would say that. The consumer has a measure of protection. There are some legislations that are in fact in place to protect the consumer. So, for instance, you have the Standards Act. Under the Standards Act, you have products must meet a certain particular standard. And if they are not, then, of course, the Bureau of Standards can act. You have, as well, under various business legislations, the Health Act that if a product is going to impact the consumer's health, then there is legislation for that. You have, as well, under the Price Control Act, which my department actually administers, if a product is sold, if a product is, in fact, sold above the control price, then, of course, we can act on behalf of the consumer. Under the, as you would say, the Sales of Goods Act, the Sales of Goods Ordnance, the product, the consumer can, of course, get redress and get some sort of support, but, of course, it has to go through the civil proceedings. But, yes, the consumer is protected in the mix of all of them. But I will say that more legislation is, in fact, needed in terms of strengthening, because every day the dynamics are changing. Right now we have consumers, there's a call for consumers to be protected in cyberspace. There are not many cyberspace laws, and we do a lot of shopping online. The consumer right now has moved away from the brick-and-mortar business and has a greater presence online. So there is a need now for even greater legislation in terms of protecting the consumer. Okay. This is all very fascinating, and as soon as we come back, because we're due for a break, I want to talk about the investigation process, and as you mentioned, a lot of the online shopping that people do nowadays, I want to talk about that in regards to both of your organizations. This is Issues and Answers. Please stay tuned to this station. We'll be right back in a moment. Pamela, I noticed that you built your retaining wall on my property. You'll have to give me my land back or compensate me for that. My contractor isn't dumb. I trust that he will not build anything on your property. Where is your proof? Let's go to court. This situation does not require you to go to court. Looks like we have to go through mediation here. Mediation is a way people resolve conflicts like this. Someone, a third party, comes to speak to both parties. This person is called the mediator. The mediator is impartial. He or she makes sure that communication between both parties is effective and efficient. So the mediator is a judge? No, the mediator is not a judge. Mediators, unlike judges, do not decide cases or impose settlements. Let me get a mediator to handle this retaining wall and that kitchen. Kitchen? Yes, your kitchen also falls on my land. Let me call the mediator. Welcome back to Issues and Answers. I'm Jacques Kingston Compton. I'm here with the director of Consumer Affairs, Mr. Guillaume Simon and the former president of the National Consumer Association, Mr. Hubert James. So before we went on break, you were continuing your thoughts on the cyber and online shopping with regards to your department. What has changed due to this new avenue for shopping? What has changed really is that the consumer now has direct access to markets. What has changed is that the redress mechanisms have to be looked at because the fact that the consumer can, through Amazon, eBay, any platform, online platform purchase, if the consumer now has an issue in terms of a shorty product, the redress is not clear. Who actually takes responsibility? If a product is damaged or doesn't come through the courier, who actually takes responsibility? So it creates a lot of ambiguities and that's why we're saying that there is a need now to have clear legislation in terms of how we can address some of those ambiguities as it descends. Is your department currently working on any legislation in the future? There are some legislations that have already been passed by the government in terms of the cyber crimes act, the Data Protection Act. And of course there is need now to also look at perhaps regulations in terms of how and more legislation, but clearly the discussion needs to continue in terms of the exposure of consumers and of course the need now to be protected. So one of the things that we do is to be on the offensive, the provision of information to empower consumers was that when they're transacting actually online, there are certain things that they need to do. There are certain things that they need to safeguard, your credit card information, how you give information, which companies are trusted products. So empowering consumers will reduce the need now to mitigate really the exposure to risk of internet fraud or any other vulnerabilities on the online platform. Okay, this is a question both of you can answer. Can you go ahead? Yeah, I was just about to say that with online shopping, what we have attempted to do is to set the linkages between us and our counterparts overseas. So if something you buy something online, which is actually called cross-border shopping, we should be able to call one of our counterparts overseas and say, look, we have that situation, this is a motor company, investigate that for us. And that network also through we have Consumer International, which also can give help in the same way if we need to get assistance to assist somebody who may have purchased something online and the person is not satisfied with the service that was given or the goods that was purchased. So with this kind of network, that's why we pay dues to Consumer International. They give information, they assist in the things that we need to get from them. We cannot do it with our own budget or distribution. Now, this is something again you can both answer. Could you speak about the investigation process for both of your organizations? If I, as a consumer, I have issue with, let's say, that pamphlet for some reason. What is the process when I call either the National Consumers Association or the Consumer Affairs Department? I think both of the organization has a form that you feel a complaint for. You fill the form, you put the information in. If it is something that can be let in with immediately, we take it out right away, call the company and try to find out what's happened while the person gave you a contract to print the pamphlet and the person said, so-and-so you did not leave it to the expectation of the person. And we define how we can deal with it, whether, as Mr. Simon had already said, whether they're going to give the person back the money or whether they're going to print it or whatever has to happen. We have to find a solution. How are we going to handle that so that we can maintain that harmonious relationship although we are supposed to advocate to make sure justice has been done. But the two organizations, everything at the time we call them, the consumers will say to them, they call us. So we work hand in hand to complement each other so we can give the consumer a greater strength in the thing they want to do. That is actually one of the services that we actually provide at the consumer perspective. We have a unit of complaints and investigations that are specifically charged with that responsibility of redressing consumer issues. And the process is simple, really, that you come in or you call and you come in and you fill out a form. So we have to get a statement of fact in terms of what the problem is. We have a cadre of officers who investigate on the consumer's behalf. So the point of intervention at my department can only start if the consumer logs a complaint and when they do then we approach the business person. So I can tell you that about 87% of the time we usually solve those complaints. So the process is, again, come in, lodge a complaint, have all your proof of purchase if you have your invoice, your receipt. There must be that link between you and the product and the supplier. If it is a product or if it is a service, there must be that link and that proof of the receipt is very critical in terms of identifying proof that it was a consumer transaction between the two parties, the supplier and the consumer. And the department will lend support in terms of trying to get redress for the consumer. We are due for one more break and when we come back I want you to talk about the methods that you use to educate the public and how you proactively safeguard the rights of the consumer. I know a couple of other things that I want to touch on. Your hair on issues and answers, I'm Jacques Kingston Compton. Please stay tuned to this station. We'll be back in a moment. Hypertension is a deadly disease that is common in San Luisio. We depend on blood pressure monitors to determine if our blood pressure is too high or too low. Should a reading on these measuring devices be incorrect, we are literally putting our lives at risk. Doctors, caregivers and patients, get your blood pressure meters verified by the San Luisio Bureau of Standards to ensure the accuracy of measuring devices. Look for a green pass sticker on the blood pressure meter at your next visit to the doctor. The correct reading can mean the difference between life and death. For more information, contact the San Luisio Bureau of Standards at 456-0546 or email SLBS at candw.lc or visit the website at www.slbs.org.lc San Luisio Bureau of Standards making quality and standards our way of life. Welcome back to issues and answers. I'm Jacques Kingston Compton. Here with me is director of consumer affairs, Mr. Guillaume Simon, and former president of the National Consumers Association, Mr. Hubert James. Before we left, I wanted to talk to you gentlemen about the avenues that you use or methods that you use to educate the public on their consumer rights. Could you both speak on that a little bit? I'll let Hubert go first. Okay. He'll let you go first. There are consumers. We have workshops. We have pamphlets. We have radio programs. We have outreach programs for the schools and communities. We come to the office and seek information which we give them information on whatever topic they ask for. We used to have a radio program with that thing we need to do to introduce. We're going to disseminate information to the consumers outside of it because some of the consumers don't understand and know their rights. As a result of that, a lot of things keep them. After the fact, they will not know how to do that. We need to bring back those radio programs to ensure that information has been given to them of information so when they go out they know exactly what to look for. Mr. Simon. We have a consumer education services unit within the department and this unit has an outreach program. One of the targets are the schools. So we've targeted schools, primary and secondary schools in terms of imparting or empowering the consumers as to their rights as to some of the challenges of operating within the world that we live in in a digital world right now. We also pamphlets, brochures we also do media, some media appearances in terms of imparting information but we also have some one-on-one discussions in communities so we go out to the various communities and of course have one-on-one dialogue with the communities. So as part of the information dissemination as part of giving empowering consumers to take charge really of the situation of know their rights and of course the more important to their responsibilities as a consumer. Now, you both very soon have an event coming up called World Consumer Rights Day. Can you talk a little bit about that day what activities can we expect on the day? World Consumer Rights Day is a day set out March 15th which is calendar to join in solidarity all consumer organizations join in solidarity in highlighting issues that impact consumers and under a chosen theme this really has affiliated to the umbrella organization for consumers which is Consumers International and this year they have adopted a theme Trusted Smart Products Essentially this theme speaks to the pervasiveness of smart products in the society that we live right now everything that we do we interface with smart products and there are opportunities for consumers in terms of leveraging their quality of life but there are also numerous challenges and me to be aware of some of those challenges that consumers face so the theme Trusted Smart Products really highlights some of the absences as I spoke to earlier in terms of the legislations and some of the most of the challenges of consumers operating at a digital age and so one of the activities that we have in fact come up with for this year and collaborate between my department and the National Consumers Association is that on World Consumer Rights Day we have a live panel discussion where we discuss some of the issues, the opportunities that the consumers that the solution consumer faces today operating at a digital age we also will be going out into the communities because we have a month of activities to meet with some of the the communities and meet with persons and of course get from them some of the areas they would like us to focus on the minister will be addressing of course the National World Consumer Rights Day in terms of where the policy of government is and of course we have a number of radio programs jointly with the National Consumers Association in terms of getting it out there that need for consumers to be more conscious of their rights we have we're trying to make that appeal to the business community to show an appreciation for the consumer on that day whatever form just to recognize that day as World Consumer Rights Day and to sort of maybe give back like a Black Friday to give the consumers something based on the contribution they have made to the business for the years because your consumer is the most important asset to any business in the country without the consumers to purchase the products you are selling or do the services that you are giving out of business so therefore if over the years you are able to expand you have been to flourish and succeeded there's a thing wrong that we can calendar that day every year you have a little black unfortunately this hit fall on the Friday so you can give the consumers something to show I appreciate you as my customers and my business because of you I'm able to achieve other things in my lab because of your contribution participating in my business so I think it would be a very good and nice gesture to the consumers that the private sector can say look we have you have contributed to my development I'm giving you that as a Black Friday whether 20 percent, 50 percent a half price or buy one get one free or something to show that I appreciate you for the form of gratitude now you it's an interesting theme for this year but could you be a little more detailed or specific about what exactly a smart product is and what challenges that both of your departments may face with regards to the emergence of smart products? Well you know smart products, your telephone your television, you know which one you have a smart TV or not your TV so you have your smart TV you have your smart car the cars you want you just press another you sit behind you and the car tells you if you can get close to something a lot of these things we use every day I mean people have gadgets on the body when they go to the next set they have much you burn how many steps you have taken so all these things are part of us it is within us you have the internet you have YouTube but anything it doesn't go down you speak to the phone and they give you the answer so these smart products are all around us and Saint Paul can't even do without it so people in church now they go to church with a phone without a Bible and they get the Bible on the phone so the smart products is ever a return just how we may have flash other smart fortune dollars so things things are infolding anyway we cannot escape it so therefore this thing you also have the downside and the downside is that you may buy a smart car and you don't have the right the person to fix this vehicle for you and probably just because of one simple idea problem in the vehicle you may have to settle for months because you may have somebody to send someone down to fix it for you so while we are promoting and feel comfortable in moving into the smart world and if we can be done for us without effort it has its downs are we prepared or do we have the requisites to correct those things when they happen you know now I think what the advertises now high definition on the television so do we have the right set of persons to deliver that if something happened so it is all around us and we are moving rapidly into it we are moving back even on better than that the phones if you just that phone go bad and just dump it somewhere it contaminates your environment now we need to find it I know sometime back they had asked if the phone is not working you bring it back to the company where you bought it from so they can dispose it properly but people don't take me to that just drop it away so we need to find a way to deliver it we are coming to the end of the program Mr. Simon do you have anything to add just wanted to say that yes we are in most with smart technologies all around us right now but it really calls for us to be even more responsible to understand what we are going into right now you have a telephone or a TV everything is connected to the internet so there is that convergence right now of everything TV, radio everything on the one thing your phone your smartphone it can turn off your TV you can use it to go to do online banking everything and there is a lot of information stored on smart products the challenge and the unknown what happens to that data that is stored on your smart products because smart products store a lot of information on and you can go back in the settings and see what you saw two years ago right you have your car I mean there are some cars right now you can start it from your phone okay we see things right now using smart technologies to enter high tech vehicles and steal them so the message really is that as a consumer we need to understand the smart technologies that are wrong and how to use it in a responsible way so as to not compromise our information so as to not compromise our ourselves when we look at the theme and like you said it's a very interesting theme smart products, trusted smart products last year until it was 2017 the banks made the banks and we had a policy that we close off at 2 o'clock and no longer at 3 o'clock and they encouraged persons to get those smart cards so you now can go through the ATM there's a responsibility in using those products as well and who guarantees that those products, the information stored from them cannot be retrieved by anybody else because once you put that information in there it stores the information who has access to that information so these are some of the issues that we want to raise and the message really to them is really know what information that you want to share and of course we don't have a choice in terms of sharing the information if you right now have to buy a new phone you have to put in your Google account you have to put in information even before you have to accept sometimes we don't know what we accept and we can accept to share all our information because information now is a commodity but it's not sold very interesting topic indeed let me give you one last for you I went to the bank the ATM and there was somebody before me and the person who draws the money but the machine did not release the money so he cancelled the thing and he left and as soon as he left the machine released the money it was $600 it is the money and I gave it to the tailor and I said look this person didn't give out the money so here is the money again he was going to view for it he was going to view for it and he needed the money but he didn't give the money at all so the machine deleted if there was somebody else who was there they would just take the money and go with it so therefore even in using the ATM machine we would be very careful just two hours back after you finished your transaction make sure you see that it tells you you just leave it and go because it may release more of your money and unfortunately I was the one there so therefore the money came someone could take the money but I didn't get the money so before them we would be right but somebody is wrong because the machine did not do the service that the person wanted it so when we are using those smart products we have to be very careful that we show what we did the challenges we have to think of I am a human for coming to speak with me about consumer rights I am Jacques Kingston Compton you are watching Issues and Answers please stay tuned to the station for more programming alright so we just have to