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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 July - 2 August 2000 Issue No. 492 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 July - 2 August 2000 Issue No. 492
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Protecting consumers
By Salama Ahmed Salama
On numerous occasions, I have been among those who defend Egyptian consumers' right to products that preserve their health and well-being, protecting them from the irresponsible and fraudulent practices that have become a general rule of our lives. Scandals concerning food unfit for human consumption, or fruits and vegetables crawling with pesticides and hormones, outrage public opinion. But Egyptian consumers find no guidance or advice on how to deal with such phenomena.
The initiative undertaken by renowned scientist Mustafa Kamal Tolba and his collaborators to establish an Egyptian consumers' rights association was therefore a source of great joy. And so was the fact that Akhbar Al-Yom, under its chairman Ibrahim Se'da, adopted this association's cause, setting aside space in which to publish its reports, which rely on analyses and investigations as precise as they are objective, seeking only consumers' welfare, protecting their rights and monitoring the quality of Egyptian products to ensure that they qualify for export to world markets -- for producers who base their profit calculations on cheating consumers here will hardly be able to export their products.
The first step undertaken by the Consumer Rights Association (CRA) -- a detailed scientific report on the meat products available on the Egyptian market, the results of testing and whether they conform to legal specifications -- has had a far-ranging impact on every Egyptian household, for people desperately needed guidance as to which products are fit for consumption. The fact that the investigations abided by global safety standards, without favouring one product over another, ensured the much desired degree of scientific objectivity.
Egyptian citizens will follow with increasing interest the results published by the CRA concerning all the products that end up on the nation's tables. When the turn of industrial commodities and services comes, Egyptians will be equally grateful, and will depend more and more on the association's findings when determining what to buy and what to avoid.
Only one comment remains: it is in the interest of producers and investors to stand by this civilised endeavour and support it, upgrading the goods and services they offer to meet the recognised specifications. Ideally, they should be competing to produce the best, most refined goods, to respect the humanity of consumers instead of focusing on pointless lawsuits. Times are changing and Egyptian citizens are developing a greater awareness of their rights. Providers of goods and services would do well to go along with the dictates of progress and stop fighting losing battles.
