Understand how consumer protection will impact on business

Tag : pipeline protection

The Consumer Protection Bill was tabled in the National Council ofProvinces in May 2008 and details in depth the rights of consumersand responsibilities of suppliers of goods and services. If adoptedit will have a major impact on the way businesses operate in SouthAfrica.

Christine Malan, the group compliance officer at the FoschiniGroup, says consumers stand to benefit from this new legislation asthey will no longer have to battle with many aspects of the commonlaw regarding liability for defective goods, contract terms and theconcept of "voetstoots".

In addition, consumers will be able to opt-out of direct marketingcampaigns and have rights enshrined in law - for example the rightto return goods, the right to quality goods and service, and theright to equality in the marketplace.

Get ready for the consumer

Malan has been part of an expert task team dealing with the Billand will take part in a public workshop on the Bill that will behosted by the law faculty at the University of Cape Town on 28 July2008.

Titled Developments in Consumer Protection Legislation , the workshop will focus on the impact of the Bill on businessesoperating in South Africa.

The workshop will enable traders, retailers and suppliers to get abetter understating of the legislation. It will also benefit legalpeople who advise businesses on consumer dealings and interactions,as well as risk managers and compliance officers.

Malan says legislation in the Bill will force businesses to adapttheir behaviour. For example, they will have to realign theiradvertising, consider taking out extra insurance to cover strictproduct liability, redraft certain contracts and in many respectschange how they do business at floor level.

They will have to extend the expiry of gift vouchers, redraftnotices in plain and understandable language, and take back goods(and repair them or refund the consumer) based on a very broad"implied warranty of quality".

However businesses should not feel threatened by the legislation,but rather view the new laws positively as they create the chancefor businesses to rethink how they do things.

"Many of the provisions in the Bill are common sense good businesspractices (e.g. taking back faulty goods) and other areas couldassist businesses in creating sustainable businesses by havingloyal consumers," Malan said.

For more information on the workshop, visit: www.law.uct.ac.za or direct enquiries to Irèna Wasserfall on irena.wasserfall@uct.ac.za