The Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade is in the process of developing consumer protection legislation to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive and fraudulent business practices.
According to a statement issued by ministry spokesperson Elijah Mukubonda, the ministry will host a consumer protection workshop from 1-3 November in Windhoek, in alliance with the United States Federal Trade Commission, to facilitate and strengthen stakeholder engagements, dialogue and cooperation.
The seminar is expected to host more than 50 participants and officials from Botswana, Zambia and South Africa to promote cross-pollination of ideas from experts in the field.
“The scheduled workshop is themed ‘Consumer Protection and E-commerce’ and seeks to demystify the development of consumer protection legislation in relation to the current framework for consumer protection in Namibia and prospects for reform; emerging consumer protection trends in southern Africa and the future of reform of consumer protection laws in Namibia,” said Mukubonda.
Namibia has no comprehensive policy or legal framework covering consumer protection.
Laws protecting Namibian consumers through regulation of market behaviour can, however, be found in various laws relating to communication, financial services, standards, competition and the sale of goods and services.
Over the years, the government has been urged to enact a consumer protection law to safeguard consumers against industries that employ unfair, discriminatory and abusive trade practices.
The absence of a generally applicable consumer protection law has been problematic for Namibian consumers as they continue to be disadvantaged by unscrupulous business.
Namibia Consumer Trust activist Michael Gawaseb last year urged the government to put the consumer protection law in place urgently.
His call comes at a time when about 180 pharmacies have been accused of altering trading conditions to fix the prices of medicines.
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