Consumer rights

FOOD, especially clean food, is a basic right. Consumers have the right to have access to food meeting adequate standards that are priced to provide access to the most essential of items. Yet providing the correct information to consumers to identify food that is both healthy and cost effective is proving to be harder and harder as Sri Lanka overlooks toughening laws protecting its consumer rights.   

It is evident that no one is safe from the menace of unscrupulous traders, use of pesticides and even understanding the health hazards of basic ingredients such as sugar and wheat flour. Elsewhere in the world consumers are absorbing vegan and other lifestyles where information about food has resulted in healthier choices that are accessible to a larger number of people. Non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer and stroke can all be traced to lifestyle and food choices so tougher laws are needed to make sure companies produce better quality food and consumers have the information to pick out what is best for their health.

 

The Government is fond of repeating Sri Lanka is now a middle income country, but its food standards do not reflect this statistical achievement. Moving beyond basic items netted by authorities, even imported products of low quality are readily accepted by consumers, unlike in other countries. Moreover, even sporadic price increases on electricity tariffs, fuel prices, gas as well as a plethora of items are routinely done without transparent consultation with consumers.

Another infringement of consumer rights is stockpiling to create artificial shortages. Pundits also argue that protectionist policies of the Government are hurting poor consumers who are left with fewer options as companies do not have to face competition from outside products. In fact Government policies that promote self-sufficiency lead to the same end since consumers have no choice but to buy at internally-regulated artificial prices. This means that the poorest of the poor are hardest hit by policies that are promoted as being beneficial to them.

Most local consumers lack knowledge on rights and duties, take certain matters for granted, and lack resources to pursue rights, while in other countries consumer rights that were limited to safety, information, choice and to be heard have progressed to rights to satisfaction of basic needs, consumer education, redress and rights to a healthier environment. Regulations and business ethics that aim for these standards need to be implemented in Sri Lanka as well. Even the CAA Act is underutilised, with almost no large-scale straying traders being punished by it to set a precedent for better policing.

Advertising of goods, especially food, needs to be tightened drastically in Sri Lanka. Currently, companies are not expected to show scientifically-proven results to back their – sometimes outlandish – claims. This level of marketing has also seeped into health products such as sugar substitutes that could be harmful along with clear ingredient and nutritional information for people to understand what they are buying.

Perhaps the most desperate need of all is to grow food sans excessive pesticides and preservatives. A large number of illnesses, especially among children, can be traced to polluted food. All these fall under the large umbrella, sadly full of holes, of consumer protection.