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November 19, 2009 16:50 PM
FOMCA Submits Memo To Ministry
PETALING JAYA, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA) on Thursday called on the government to expedite the review of the 10-year-old Consumer Protection Act to keep abreast with the rapid economic development in the country.
Its president Datuk N. Marimuthu told Bernama that since the Act was introduced in 1999, the economic landscape in the country had changed tremendously due to privatisation, globalisation, trade liberalisation, cyber trade and the world economic meltdown.
"All these changes have put consumers at great disadvantage and they are being exploited by unscrupulous businesses which are out to fleece them or give them a raw deal," he added.
For instance, he said, at present consumers were bombarded with misleading advertisements to lure them to purchase goods they did not really need or buy goods in excess just to win cash prices or accumulate points to participate in lucky draws.
He said the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC) run by FOMCA received 1,129 complaints on misleading advertisements in 2008 compared with 917 the previous year.
"This trend is very worrying, so the government should step in to stop such advertisements with strict guidelines," he said.
Marimuthu said besides the Consumer Protection Act 1999, Fomca had also submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism on other outstanding consumer issues.
Among them are the Fair Trade Practices Act, substandard products and cheap sales.
-- BERNAMA
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