'TilE SUNDAY TIMES, SEPTEMBER 22, 1991

of our Ministry of Education. The Sunday (c) Tiie pro~Sed Consumer Pro­ tection Council is described as the Times From trilogy to trinity .. focal point" around which much of the White Paper revolves. Para 22 SEPTEMBER 22, 1991 'makes reference to its "watchdog" function. One hopes that in reality the O«Bet priDted ....~by Alied Thoughts on consumer protection in Council will not turn out to be a mere ~Ud., ~ IIO.e.341, poodle, cute and harmless. The St. ul Street, Valletta• . T~ 24146419 or 241411/2. T.._: . Council seems inherently weak, its Mlllta. Telex MW l341.1'elefax 1. Malta and the recent White Paper composition relying mainly on .. \ ' government employees attendmg as One year's sublcripdoa: Lm7.28. THERE have always been laws b "d b . L D " Rights for the CQilSumer' '.. It has Postqe, localloveneM, !IUJ'face or air which directly or indirectly protect- y Davt Fa n,_L . . allotted three months for the public's ministerial nominees, some on a part­ mall, IICCOI'ding to posbll rates. time basis. It has not been allocated ed certain legitimate expectations of comments. The wide-ranging legis- any effective investigatory authority purchasers of goods. Controls over However we had to wait till the lative reforms contemplated in this WEAmER FORECAST and is burdened with too many polit­ the price of commodities, prohibi- Eighties before real consumer protec- . document may pave the way for the ical masters. Can the Council be rea­ (Issued by the Meteorological Office tions of false weights, measures tnd tion measures entered our statute most ambitious and extensive con­ of the Civil Aviation Department) sonably expected to take any worth­ hallmarks, and controls over the sale book. Indeed the Eighties heralded a sumer protection measure ever under­ while initiative when it has to satisfy General statement: A ridge of high pres­ of deteriorated substances and ex- trilogy of Acts of Parliament which taken m Malta, and may yet redeem sure extends from the Black Sea to the Io­ and re{K?rt to no less than a trinity of nian Sea. pired medical products have been for the first time explicitly referred the administration's credentials. authonties, namely: Forecast from dawn to dusk with us for a long number of years; to the figure of the "consumer" in A brief glance at the contents on The Parliamentary Secretary res­ Mainly sunny and warm. Visibility: some regulations date back to the last recognition of the proposition that the page 3 immediately displays the var­ ponsible for Consumer Protection; good. Wind: mainly S'ly light to moder­ century. . . consumer merited a particular. status 1ety of matters tackled. One must The Minister of Education (to ate. Sea:· slight. Swell: low S'ly. Max. Much more recently, the Sixties in the law. however wait and see whether there whom the first one is accountable); temp.: 29°C. witnessed the introduction of interest- The first blows were struck against is enough time for all the necessary The Minister of Trade. Luqa observations at noon ing statutes which in a variety of ways the ancient civil law principle that laws and amendments to be passed Too many cooks spoil the broth and Mean sea level pressure ..... 1019.3 hPa - not all successful - sought to se- sellers and buyers are all equal par- through Parliament. At this stage, the three's a crowd, but not so, the Wind ...... , ...... S by W 8 kts . cure a better service for the purchaser ties, each able and free to negotiate time available may be too short. government thinks, in the case of the Cloud ...... 2/8 cu of certain goods and services. The the best terms for themselves. This No doubt, the publication of the proposed consumer · watchdog. Relative humidity ...... 54% principal statutes enacted in Malta trilogy consisted of the Consumers White Paper· fs an iinportant event, Hours of bright sunshine ...... 10.4 Neither does the White Paper disclose during this period were the. Trading Protection Act 1981 , the Trade a turning point which should serve .as what funds, facilities and manpower Visibility ...... 20 km Stamps Scheme (RestoratiOn) Act Descriptions Act 1986 and the Door- a point of reference for any future dis- Max. shade temp. during day ..... 29°C will be allocated to the Council to 1964, the Malta Board of Standards to-Door Salesmen Act 1987. cussion on consumer protection in enable it to function properly. Minimum temperature during previous Act 1965, and the Hotels and Cater- Although collectively these mea- Malta. night ...... 19°C (d) Why should new consumer as­ Average sea temp. around Malta .. .-.26°C ing Establishments Act 1967. sures were a great step forward, one The Seventies saw the enactment of cannot fail to note that no proper or­ sociations (para 39) register them­ Rainfall average Malta (past 24 hours Deficiencies selves twice, once with the Council up to noon yesterday) ...... nil the Food, Drugs and Drinkin~ Water ~anisation or infrastructure was put and then with the Minister of Trade? Average Gozo and Comino ...... nil Act 1972, which is still essential read- mto place to ensure the adequate and But let us now briefly examine a ing for anybody interested in con- effective enforcement of the laws. number of deficiencies m the White The duplication. is senseless and Since September 1 for the Maltese seems to have a closer connection islands ...... 24.8 mm sumer matters. This law was an The Consumer Protection Act was Paper; some relate to matters of prin­ Sunrise ...... 6.49 a.m. almost literal reproduction of the a short piece, pretentiously titled and ciple,. others to points of detail. with inter-ministerial sensitivities than with conslliDer protection. Sunset ...... 7 p.m. original UK statute. hastily drafted a few weeks before the (a) The title itself, "Rights for the Consumer'', sounds more like an Some of the early publicised reac­ ------·1981 elections. Its section 6 estab- tions to the White Paper make in­ lished an immensely cumbersome electoral slogan heralding a political handout rather than the title of a seri- teresting reading. LOOKING· A EAD .procedure of control ov~r ~e activi­ ' ties of consumer associations by a ous exercise. Latent defects (b) The Maltese text is often incom­ YESTERDAY Malta began its 28th year o_f ~xfste~ce a~ ll!l ind~pe?- Parliamentary committee. A Vf?f,Y di~- Daphne's comments (The Sunday dent state - an anniversary our home-bred Socialists still childishly ms1st couraging and uncontrolled mtn!Sten­ prehensible and one should opt for the Times, September 8) were substan­ on running down, misinterpreting or ignoring altogether - and the Prime al discretion determined the legal English text. A few examples will tially valid with one small exception. Minister Dr. Fenech Adami, justifiably felt that an assessment of the change recognition or otherwise of any con­ suffice: para 148 reads, in English: Quoting from para 80 of the White wrought' so far by his four-year-old administration was in order. sumer association. This statute The law must accommodate new principles which safeguard the con­ Paper, she complains that the law still The Nationalist Party's week-long activities marking the in~ependeoce deserves the complete re-appraisal permits a seller to reduce or withdraw anniversary tried to convey what will probably be the theme of Its e~ectoral promised in the recently published sumer and which redress the imbalance existing between the 'individual con­ the legal guarantee against latent campaign: things have changed, appreciably, for the better~ _and will con- White Paper. defects, but fails to notice that the tinue to get better under PN management. It was a theme which Dr. Fenech The Trade Descriptions Act, an­ sumer and manufacturers, suppliers and other traders. succeedin~ paragraph clearly pro­ Adami played again and again in the course of his speech at Friday's meeting. other carbon copy of a UK law, was poses to "mtroduce a new legal prin­ Even allowing for the optimism induced by the partisan nature of the a much trumpeted affair, but its over­ The Maltese version distorts the whole idea: . ciple to the effect that where an article occasion it is difficult not to be in basic agreement with Dr. Fenech Adami's all enforcement and its half-baked being sold is new, then the legal war­ assessm~nt of the state of the nation today, which he could not help con- regulation of advertising methods left 11-ligi trid tahseb ghat prineipji god-'" da li jissalvagwardjaw lill-konsumatur ranty against serious hidden defects trasting with that under the Socialists as recently as four and a half years ago. much to be desired. Not an easy law cannot be reduced or excluded". The political polarisation w~ich then pervad_ed Maltese society .to such to read either. individwali u dawk li jissupplixxu u negoz;janti ohra. Daphne's other C91lcern about an extent, though still present, IS much less noticeable today, and mdeed, The Door-to-Door Salesmen Act shopkeepers placing strategic signs to much less of a talking point. The country is enjoying full employment and was a more confident production. Not We also find "cancellation" being converted into kancel/avjoni instead discourage customers from exercis­ although the Socialists frequently· fret about living beyond our means, the perfect by any means, its direct ap­ is of kancellament. and "transaction" ing their rights of course a real one. fact is that while the Maltese are- spending more (partly becau~e·c;>f pent-up proach and drafting marked an im­ But it shall be one of the primary demand for g~s they were de~ed for years und'?r the Socialists), they provementoverpreviousefforts. This ·translated as transavjoni, which means something completely differ­ functions of the proposed Council to are also producmg more, exportmg more and earrung IPOre, to the e~tent Act provided safeguards against nasty s~p out such practices. Para 23 of that further growth risks being stalled by shortages of skilled and tramed salesmen pra9tices. Enacted in res­ ent _ .~~~? has 'comrkJtng_!.raders' tlJe'·White Paper clearly states that the labour, and of personnel in several key service areas. ~yet, as Dr. Fenech ponse to an actual need, it revealed, turned into ''negoz;janti mpetittivi ''. · Council shall be empowered to pro- Adami pointed out last Friday, employment in the pnvate sector has grown a more satisfactory understanding and A !'ather shabby performance for a by 9,000 since May, 1987. . . identification of actual consumer document issued under the umbrella . (Continued on back page) The present administration immediately recognised what its priontles i concerns. should be: an end to division, winning back international respect, overhaul- ; ing the nation's infrastructure, essential to economi~ progress, :md! !lbove Competition not enough all, putting faith in the resourcefulness and potential of Malta s citiZens. : It was this faith in the ability of the Maltese to face up to the challenges Since its election in 1987, the which lay ahead, Dr. Fenech Adami reminded his audience, which inspired · present government has hardly distin­ the late Dr. George Borg Olivi~r to seek, and obtain •. independence back ~ished itself in the ~onsumer protec­ in September 1964. And such faith must be a constant m every Maltese ad-1 uon field. Not one smgle new law has ministrati

PRESIDENT TABONE inspecting an AFM guard of honour on St. John's Square In d epen de nee yesterday morning before leading the COnj!regation (right) at the Pontifical High Day celebrations M:m in St. John's. Co-C;thedral' led by the Archbishop, Mgr. Merc~eca.

- (Continued from page I) Alternatttva s referendum campaign A MAN'S CORPSE was found dent, Dr. Vincent Tabone, who was ALTERNATTJVA DEMOKRATIKA trappers more lands and ri~hts. dead floating in the sea close to the greeted with the national salute. has begun a campaign for the hold­ He said that the only remaming na­ Taormina kiosk in Sliema early Dr. Tabone then inspected the ing of a referendum on hunting. ture reserve in our country was yesterday morning. guard of honour and later attended the The theme of the campaign, Ghadira. Protected birds were being The man last night was identitited l o concelebrated Mass. The Te Deum launched at Buskett on Friday, is 11- killed every day in .other places, such as Joseph Sciberras, a watchma c~l o was sung in thanksgiving. 0 Maggoranza Kontra l-Kacca ("The as Buskett, which were supposed to from Hamrun in his late 50s. Also present were the Deputy majority is against hunting") .. be protected areas. police released a close-up of Prime Mmister, Professor de Marco, Dr. Wenzu Mintoff, Alternattiva 's Mr. Natalino Fenech said that (left). and members of the Cabinet, the only MP, told a press conference that millions of birds were being caught He had slight injuries, but ac­ Speaker of the House of Representa­ they will be circulating-a public peti­ and killed in Malta as a hobby. In cording to informed sources, the tives, Dr. Lawrence Gonzi, members tion against hunting, wh1ch will he Buskett more than 20 per cent of police are ruling out foul play. of the diplomatic corps led by the will eventually present in Parliament. migratory birds are shot in Septem­ The sources added that the inju· Apostolic Nuncio, Mgr. Pier Luigi Altemattiva Demokratika, he con­ ber and sometimes more than 50 birds ries could have been caused when Celata, parliamentary secretaries, tinued, was proposing a two-year of prey were shot in one day. Malta the man hit the rocks on falling into MPs and members of the Judiciary. moratorium on huntin~, followed by had not yet signed the Berne and the sea. a referendum on the 1ssue. Bonn conventions to safeguard birds There was also Mrs. Alexandra The police said the man, later identified as Sciberras, was about I Borg Olivier, widow of Dr. George The movement also wanted the of prey. government to withdraw its permis­ The MOS yesterday said it support­ metres tall and was wearing a light blue shirt, brown trousers and a Borg Olivier, first Prime Minister of of black slip-on shoes. independent Malta. sion for hunters to use land at Mii:ieb ed the referendum campaign. and L-Ahrax tal-Mellieha, and to stop The ceremony continued at Flori­ Traffic ana where Dr. Tabone and Dr. giving part of the revenue from hunt­ ing licences to the hunters' associa­ closed and cars were Fenech Adami laid wreaths at the foot Youth killedJn car crash another route in St. Julian's until of the Independence monument. tion. This subsidy has so far totalled Lm18,000, Dr. Mintoff said. by a Staff Reporter in the Nova, British tourist Stephen Magistrate Noel Cuschieri carried Independence activities in Gozo Forster, were unhurt. an inquiry and the car was removed will be held this morning at 10.15 Although the government wanted A YOUNG MAN was killed and to join the European Community, it Among the first who gave first aid by the police. with a wreath-laying ceremony on In­ another seriously injured in a car to the fatally injured Grech was For­ ~as not saying that this would restrict crash on the Regional Road, St. Traffic legal expert Dr. Simoo dependence Square, Victoria, in ster, who had received medical train- Micallef Stafrace, Architect which the Prime Minister will take trapping and hunting. The Malta Julian's, early yesterday morning. Labour Party, on the other hand, was ing in the army. ' Aquilina and mechanical part. M f The victim, David Grech, 23, of Grech was rushed to hospital where not referring to hunting in their cam­ Sliema, was driving a high-powered Joseph Zammit were appointed by essage rom Bush he died later in the morning. court to help in the inouirv. ) President Bush sent a message to paign but were promising hunters l!fid Alfa Romeo 164 in the direction of President Tabone on Friday con­ Gzira when he apparently lost con­ gratulating him on Malta's Indepen­ PN celebrations in Gozo trol after tackling the bend on leav­ dence Day. Mr. Bush said: "We have THE Nationalist Party's indepen­ ing the Regional Road tunnel at about seen our relations with your country dence anniversary activities yesterday 4.30 a.m. ) steadily improve, and look forward shifted from the Granaries in Flori­ The car hit and partly knocked to working together with Malta even ana to Gozo, where a programme of down a low wall on the left side of more closely in the future in our music .and other entertainment was the road and, after careering at speed many areas of mutual interest.'' held on St. Augustine Square in for some 100 metres, crashed into .. President Tabone also received a Victoria. the comer of the boundary wall of the message from PLO Chairman Yasser It ended with a message by the Indian High Commission, receiving Arafat, which he signed as President Prime Minister and Nationalist Party the impact at great force on the of the State of Palestine. driver's side. leader Dr. Eddie Fenech Adami. 0 The Alfa, which ended in the mid­ dle of the road, was a total wreck. Ric­ White Paper on consumer protection cardo Greco, 27, also of Sliema, who (Continued from page 14) larly through its bi-weekly organ Al­ was a passenger in the Alfa, was seri­ temattiva. In its early response to the ously mjured but, informed sources hibit the use of unfair contractual White Paper ( editonal of September said, he was not in danger. terms in consumer contracts and to 7 issue, under the title ''Konsumatur Another car, a Vauxhall Nova with halt any other practice deemed harm­ Protett?') some negative aspects of an E:nglish registration, which was ful ~o consumers, including any con­ the document were highlighted, the being driven in the same direction by ditions relating t<>'the supply of goods main objection being that the pro­ Robert White, a British resident, was and services, to the marmer in which posed Council for Consumer Protec­ also damaged when it was hit by the these are communicated to the pub­ tion will inevitably fail to co-ordinate Alfa Romeo. White and a passenger lic, etc. the workings of all the various boards The other letter carried last Sunday and authorities whose functions affect from the president of the Ghaqda tal­ consumers, and that it will end up los­ Konsumaturi1 in reply to one of ing its way inside a bureaucratic jun­ Daphne's comments, was remarkable gle. It is refreshing to note that in a distorted sense. First of all, it Alternattiva Demokratika had not revealed that this association still ex­ limited itselfto expressing such pes­ ists, contrary to what most of us be­ simistic views but has now also un­ lieved, and that it has apparently dertaken to actually set up a new survived despite founder Jimmy consumer association of 1ts own. Magro's increasing political commit­ There is no reason why this new ven­ ments. Secondly Mr. Farrugia calls ture should not prove successful, on Daphne to communicate her sug­ although one wonders whether a pro­ gestions on the White Paper to the liferation of consumer associations authorities. But weeks after its pub­ will be beneficial to consumers in the lication, we have yet to discover what long term. It is not clear whether or the Ghaqda 's own views are! Hav­ how far the publication of the White ing been active in some form for nine Paper has spurred the setting up of years, this association should have this new association. been the best placed and the first to There are others who are apparent­ offer its studied critique. One may ly pretending not to know about the 0 hope, therefore, that the publication White Paper, or have chosen to keep of the White Paper may give the their comments to themselves, or are Ghaqda a new lease of life. reacting very slowly. These include not only the GRTU, the other recent­ New association ly established retailers association, On the contrary, one feels that no the Federation of Industry and other new lease of life can now arouse the constituted bodies (including as usual Ghaqda tal-Konsumaturi (Fergha the Chamber of Advocates), but also Laboratorju tal-Pad) which in 1982 the Malta Labour Party, whose Jim­ published a booklet on various mat­ my Magro had been active in this ters of consumer interest. It had em­ sphere for the past ten years. phasised the need to protect young In any case, readers are encouraged consumers and was recognised by the to obtain a copy of the White Paper Minister of Trade of the time in terms and to form their own opinion about of the 1981 Act. Nothing has been the various proposals. The White heard from it since. Paper expressly offers itself for dis­ Alternattiva Demokratika has in cussion and comments; it defines it­ the past months been very active in self as a "point of departure". It is ) promoting consumer affairs particu- not-a point of no return. Sole & Distributors : COLLIS WILliAMS, Street, Valletta -