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PRESENTATION ON CONSUMER PROTECTION BILL
NATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND LABOUR
COUNCIL
(NEDLAC)
3 SEPTEMBER 2008
INTRODUCTION
53 years ago the African National Congress and its allies the
South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats and the
Coloured People's Congress at the Congress of the people in 1955 resolved that
"The People Shall Govern!"
“With the formation of Nedlac in 1995, success could not be assumed but there
was hope that it could weave the fabric of democracy’ President Nelson Mandela,
Nedlac Annual Summit, 1998.
“One of the most important features of our system of governance is to ensure
consultation and dialogue, in order to build not only a shared national vision, but
also in actual practice to attain unity of purpose and action.” President Mbeki at
the Growth and Development Summit in June 2003.
Nedlac has acted as an important yardstick to measure the extent to
which policies could find resonance with the needs of the citizens
Therefore it follows that where social partners find absolute consensus or
sufficient consensus on the policy thrust, ownership of such policies is
co-shared
This arguably makes implementation much easier and most of all prevent
unnecessary legal challenges and squabbles.
This certainly results in the real transformation vs compliance without
conviction
Inherent in social dialogue is that it takes time for it to produce
meaningful consensus that ultimately leads to real partnership.
It would therefore be correct to assume that if government tables a
policy that does not solicit broader consensus among the key social
partners, that should be taken very seriously by the legislators.
This should also inform legislators of the potential implementation
difficulties that the policy would likely to suffer if signed off; A policy
that lacks broader support would amount to a major detour from the
concept of the people shall govern.
NTRODUCTION
Since its formation, Nedlac has:
Created a forum in which the social partners have been able to work on
their relationship and build some level of trust;
Been an important instrument to strengthen democratic governance and
transparency in the decision-making process;
Provided the space for the evolution of a new approach to policymaking
and changes to legislation, thereby contributing towards better and more
democratic policies that enjoy wide acceptance;
INTRODUCTION
Since its formation, Nedlac has:
Given birth to a range of tripartite bodies and thereby
promoted the concept of social dialogue;
Created a central forum where greater consensus has been
achieved amongst key stakeholders on a diverse range of
policy issues;
Process Flow
Historically the policy making process in SA assumed the
following process flow:
• Green Paper
• White Paper
• Draft Bill
• Bill
PROCESS
Government tabled the Green paper on the Consumer Policy Framework in September 2004.
Constituencies submitted comprehensive comments on the Policy
Framework.
In general it was agreed that the Consumer protection policy was
necessary however, it should be done in manner that does not
limit the scope of Government to drive Industrial development,
trade, investment policy and employment.
Nedlac produced a report on the Policy framework Engagements
and submitted same to the Minister.
PROCESS
In 2006, Government tabled the Consumer Protection Draft Bill for consideration by Nedlac.
Nedlac did not follow a line by line approach in its consideration of the Bill,
But evaluated the Bill against the agreements reached in the Green/white paper stages of policy.
OUTCOME OF PROCESS
Business and Labour did not agree that sufficient attention had been paid to implications for employment and industrial development
Government stated that Bill aimed to minimise cost of compliance
All constituencies agreed that the objectives of the Bill are supported
Scope
Constituencies noted that there was no intention to cover membership fees of trade unions or employer organisations
Appropriate wording to be prepared in this regard.
Intentions
SMMEs included as consumer
No duplication requirements in other legislation
“user” in workplace not covered
Government would identify areas of conflict and duplication and would exclude specific sectors
All regulations to be published simultaneously with the effective date of the Act.
Intense consultation on regulations
Institutions
Agreed that they should be easy to access and
promote clear standards for consumer protection.
Separate consumer commissions but tribunal :
National Credit Act Tribunal.
Agreed a set of principles to apply to institutions.
DuplicationSome sectors are already regulated
If sectoral regulation covered minimum standard required such legislation should take precedence
Where voluntary codes meet the standard, the Commission should provide recognition
Noted the proposed handling of potential conflict
Duplication
General principle: The Bill will not deal with matters already regulated
Agreed that specific areas on environmental standards, hazardous products, food handling or medicines will be removed
Compliance costs
Agreed that the following would be addressed:
–Individual trust accounts–Written agreements–Written sales records–Penalties on overselling and overbooking not to
be double–Cooling off period–Promotional competitions
Compliance costs
Language provisions not universally applicable
Treatment of recall
Opt out approach to be adopted
Criminal sanctions
Criminal sanctions may not be adequate in all cases.
Challenge of moving some regulations that currently attract criminal sanction to a different regime.
Further work required.
Intentions of the regulator
Business did not believe that SMMEs should be included in the definition of consumers
Institutions
Labour proposed representatives from Business and Labour on the Tribunal
Not supported by Government and Business
Additional issues raised by Labour
Provision for rules of origin to be extended to all sectors not included
Provisions for minimum labeling on specific ethical standards dealing with labour, community or environmental interests not included
Amendments to anti discrimination provisions
Minimum disclosure of information on costs incurred by workers for equipment