A DEMOCRATIC government is a system or a group of elected persons responsible for governing an organised community such as a State. A primary responsibility of government is the formulation and enforcement of laws and regulations that protect the interests of the people.

The people may be considered to belong to various “groups,” each having particular interests; one such group – perhaps the largest one – is that of consumers. A consumer is defined as someone who acquires goods or services for direct use or ownership rather than for resale or use in production and manufacturing. The thirty-fifth president of the United States, John F. Kennedy famously said, “Consumers, by definition, include us all.” Evidently, it is the responsibility of government to recognise and protect the rights of consumers. And any ‘good government’ will take that obligation seriously.

From its first day in office, the APNU+AFC coalition government of Guyana has worked to strengthen the administrative structures and enforce regulations that protect consumers. The primary government agencies tasked with delivering such services are the Consumer Affairs Division of the Ministry of Business, and the Guyana National Bureau of Standards. Those agencies work closely with consumer advocate groups and other concerned non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The fact that consumers have rights is internationally recognised. Many experts agree that modern, formal consumer protection began on March 15, 1962. On that day, US President Kennedy made a speech to the US Congress naming four basic rights of consumers: the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose, and the right to be heard.
In 1985, the concept of consumer rights was endorsed by the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection and the list was most recently revised by the General Assembly in resolution 70/186 of December 22, 2015. The UN recognises specific basic rights:

(1) The right to satisfaction of basic needs. This right demands that people have access to basic, essential goods and services: adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, public utilities, water, and sanitation.

(2) The right to redress. The right to redress provides for consumers to receive a fair settlement of just claims, including compensation for misrepresentation, shoddy goods, or unsatisfactory services.

(3) The right to consumer education. The right to consumer education states that consumers should be able to acquire knowledge and skills needed to make informed, confident choices about goods and services while being aware of basic consumer rights and responsibilities and how to act on them.

(4) The right to a healthy environment. This is the right to live and work in a work space or home that is non-threatening to the well-being of present and future generations.
The Government of Guyana recognises those rights. Further, local legislation mandates that consumers are treated fairly and respectfully, and get value for their money. The Consumer Affairs Act, Act No. 13 of 2011, enshrines into law the quality of goods and services to which consumers are entitled, as well as the conditions and nature of the relationship between consumers on the one hand, and providers of goods and services, on the other.

The APNU+AFC administration has revealed that it has found that Guyanese consumers are frequently treated unfairly. This reality, says the government, is due to the fact that many consumers are unaware that they have rights under the law. Additionally, during the reign of the PPP regime, scant regard was paid to customer rights. As a result of this neglect, the system of enforcement of laws fell apart.

With those facts in mind, the administration has embarked on an ambitious public-education drive with the goal of informing citizens of their entitlements. For example, Section 21 of the Act provides for the return of purchased goods, while Section 24 prohibits any place of business from displaying signs that state that goods are not returnable. Further, government aims to make all citizens aware of the nature of various warranties to which all consumers are entitled.

Government has declared that all rights of all citizens will be safeguarded and honoured by the administration. Government has committed itself to educating Guyanese of their rights, thereby fulfilling the mandate bestowed upon it by the Guyanese people. After all, that is the least that any good government would do.