The International Consumer’s Day Yemen to Join Membership of International Consumer Organization [Archives:2000/13/Business & Economy]

Yasser M. Ahmed
Yemen Times
Under the motto of “Who Choose Our Food?” Yemen celebrated Saturday March 25 the international consumer’s day which fell on March 15. It was delayed by ten days because of Eid holidays. The motto was suggested by the International Consumer’s Organization and was endorsed in its meeting held in Melbourne, Australia.
The celebration was sponsored by brigadier general Abdu Raboh Mansoor, vice president. The vice president highlighted in his speech that all should mobilize efforts to combat smuggling, especially in the field of medicine. He said “Such a phenomenon has actually posed great health hazards as smugglers tend to bury drugs under the earth in the desert before they smuggle them. So many drugs cross the expiry date in that condition.” He pointed out the significance of the people’s cooperation with the authority to combat this so as to put an end to this ugly phenomenon.
Then, Mr. Hamoud Kasem Al-Bokhaiti, vice chairman of the Yemeni Society of Consumers’ Protection, delivered a speech quoting the UN’s circular no 39\248 on 9\4\1985 which stressed the need to protect consumers. He asserted that the celebration took place at a time marked by many international economic changes that considerably affect consumers. He said “The most important of such changes is the globalization of economy, free market and removal of the constraints imposed on goods entering our national markets. The International Trade Organization is monitoring these changes which have a direct impact on the consumer’s rights. We, especially in the developing countries, are affected much by these elements for a number of reasons, the most important of which are the following:
1) Inability of the local products to compete with their foreign counterparts, in addition to the fragile control and supervision on the products that commonly used.
2) Poor consumption awareness on the part of the consumers.
3) Strong smuggling base of all kinds of goods, especially food and drugs.
Therefore, to face all these challenges, the International Consumer Organization has taken it upon itself to stress the importance of protecting consumers’ rights in all meetings and international conferences.
Yemen has applied for joining this Organization and has taken concrete steps in this regard. It has met most of the conditions for gaining membership and what remains are just some formal procedures.
Yemen is going to host the second conference of Arab Union for the Consumer. The conference is scheduled to be held in Sana’a next September with 19 Arab countries participating in the conference. There will also be some representatives from the international organization, Arab Countries League and the UN program for the western Asia and WIPO.”The vice chairman concluded his speech by thanking all those who contributed to make this ceremony a success.
Mr. Abdul Salam Ghaleb Al-Kamish, chairman of Standards and Specifications, said “The consumer’s as well as manufacturer’s rights are highly sacrosanct in our religion. We, in Yemen, have started enforcing the standards and specifications to preserve the consumer rights in accordance with a comprehensive standing order that meets all the international stipulations. Our celebration today coincides with the celebration of the Arab Measures Day by all Arab Institutions. The organization has chosen its location to be in Rabat, Morocco. The celebration of this day was held under the motto of “Standards is the Passport of Arab Products”.
The minister of Health, Dr. Abdul Wali Nasher in his address thanked all those who helped organize this ceremony. He referred to the dangers facing societies as a result of manufacturing food companies whose main obsession is quick profit even if this is at the expense of people’s health.
Later engineer Ahmad Salem Al-Jabali, minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Mohammed Al-Zabidi, deputy of Civil Planning and Construction, Abdullah Ali Al-Sunaidar, vice chairman of Chambers of Commerce gave speeches emphasizing the need for activating the institutions that combat smuggling.
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