GMAZ donates $10k towards consumer Bill awareness

THE Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) has donated $10 000 to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) to help in promoting consumer awareness on the new Consumer Protection Bill.

The money will help the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce to conduct meetings on the new Consumer Protection Bill across the country.

CCZ national chairperson Mr Phillip Bvumbe said the new Consumer Protection Bill is a transformative Bill in the sense that the previous Bill had a lot of fragmented legislations that protected consumers, but the new Bill seeks to amend that.

He said the Bill will be presented to Parliament and will be the role of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to present it to the nation.

“The critical aspect of the Bill is enforceability in terms of when consumer rights are violated. Any consumer can now be able to seek redress and they are various penalties in case of abusive conduct by the market players who provide goods and services.

“Previously, we used to have a saying in law that ‘let the buyer be aware’ but now it says ‘let the seller be aware’, which means that the owners have a responsibility to ensure that the products they are providing are safe, of good quality and that they do not compromise the health of our consumers. Both suppliers and consumers should be aware of their responsibilities.

“It also addresses the issue of e-commerce that is part and parcel of our economic environment.

In terms of grey marketing of products, for instance there is now a lot of media advertisements in terms of the way the media interacts with the consumers, so that is one of the critical aspects in the management in terms of the behaviour between the players in the market place and the consumers,” he said.

GMAZ vice chairman Mr Chipo Nheta said they have maintained a good relationship with CCZ and believes that it will continue to deliver fair value to consumers.

“GMAZ has always maintained a good relationship with the consumer watchdog, CCZ. We value the role that CCZ plays in bringing order in the market and promoting consumer rights.

“Our support to them demonstrates that we are open to scrutiny and indeed transparent in how the milling industry conducts its activities.

“We have a strong covenant in the milling industry to conduct, at all times, responsible pricing and manufacturing of products that deliver for our consumers,” he said.