New packaging for tobacco

By Nancy Handabile
IT is a fact that tobacco is extremely harmful to health. However, this does not seem to deter many people from smoking.
 
The tobacco problem is a global challenge and because we are living in a global village, trends in one country will most likely spread to others.
Recently, the Australian government came up with a law to enforce plain packaging on cigarette packets.
 
The law stipulates that all cigarette packets regardless of the brand be packaged plainly but with images of the various ailments, which tobacco causes.
These ailments range from mouth cancer, lung diseases, and respiratory problems, among others.
This did not go down well with the tobacco companies that argued that the value of their trademarks would be destroyed if they were no longer able to display their distinctive colours, brand designs and logos on packets of cigarettes.
They took the government to court but the Australian High Court recently upheld the Government’s decision to introduce plain packaging.
Thus, in December, packets will instead come in a uniformly drab shade of olive and feature dire health warnings and graphic photographs of smoking’s health effects.
The government, which has urged other countries to adopt similar rules, hopes the new packs will make smoking as unglamorous as possible.
Zambia has a law that stops smoking in public. However, stricter measures are needed especially that many smokers start in their teens.
Many countries are now facing the pressure of following Australia’s route and Zambia is no exception.
 
Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) executive director, Muyunda Ililonga has encouraged the Zambian Government to follow suit.
 
According to Mr Ililonga, “the ruling in Australia is a landmark victory for public health globally. It sends a strong message that the industry can be defeated.”
The new law will now make it illegal, for example, for the cigarette manufacturers to market cigarettes in ‘slim’ packages to women to promote the belief that smoking is a way to stay thin and control weight.
 
The tobacco companies have opposed plain packaging more ferociously than any other tobacco control measure because they know that plain packaging would have a major impact on smoking in Australia – and in other countries that might follow Australia’s lead.
 
“The cigarette companies hate nothing more than laws that restrict their ability to sell more cigarettes,” says Mr Ililonga, adding that “their legal challenges are destined to fail because the courts accept that more cigarette sales mean more sickness and more deaths, and that governments have a duty to act to reduce these harms.”
 
Mr Ililonga advised that a Government determined to protect its people would always succeed regardless of obstacles.
 
“We feel the Government must follow the pioneering journey undertaken by the Australian government in standing up against tobacco.”
 
His sentiments that the attractive packaging is one of the ways in which the tobacco industry advertise their deadly products are echoed by Charlie Mumba (not his real name).

Times of Zambia

 Simon Ng’ona, Consumer Activist

Not a day passes when one does not come across news of defective and substandard products/injury and other consumer related violations which hinge on the welfare of consumers. One then gets a sense of déjà vu, because you have already read it before on several occasions. And if you are a right thinking person, you wonder why these things happen again and again. There are laws in place and regulations, but action to prevent such undesirable happenings seems scarce in most sectors- whilst in others, progress is being made.

Since the early 90s, when Zambia has experienced fundamental changes in its trade and economic policy in the spheres of economic activity. The drastic changes which has had a deep implication for the country’s industry, investment and trade policies, necessitated the development of a competition law to ensure a healthy and fair competitive environment evolves to stimulate enhanced private sectorgrowth and also protected the interest of consumers.

Competition and Fair Trading Act of Zambia was enacted in 1994. However, despite this Act coming into force, it did not live up to its expectation owing to its structure and limited provisions to comprehend with the new dynamic changes in the competition front. The Act was also weak on consumer protection as it had only one section to deal with consumer protection issues. This is unlike in other countries where consumer protection is given much prominence and to some extent enacted as a separate law. However the idea to bring both competition and consumer protection in once law was essential , taking into consideration resources challenges for an country like Zambia as having two separate laws might entail having to separate institutions to manage to manage them.

Attempts at addressing these deficiencies saw the enactment of a new law, the Competition andConsumer Protection Act, 2010. The new law aims, among other things, reinforcing the objectives of the previous Act and addressing some of the deficiencies of the previous Law.

 However, for it to be effectively enforced there is need for all key stakeholders in competition enforcement to also effectively playing their part. This seems to have been largely wanting in the process of enforcement of the earlier legislation. Knowledge about the role which these players can play in Zambia seems not to have been disseminated as it should have been. The judiciary, legal fraternity,trade unions, media and parliamentarians are among the stakeholders who need to play a key role in ensuring that a healthy competitive culture prevails and consumers significantly benefit from the process. Sector regulators and Civil Society also play an important role in ensuring effective enforcement of the competition and consumer protection law.

On the other hand, consumers are also ignorant of their rights; hence being subjected to continuous abuse. This knowledge gap has cultured a situation where a number of violations go unnoticed and unearthed. This to a greater extent has made the regulatory process difficult. It is therefore quite apparent that there is a risk that the objectives of the new law might not yield the intended results owing to this non-inclusive approach, a fate suffered by the previous Act. Therefore  ladies and gentlemen, let’s take an in interest  in our respective capacity to ensure that this law is effective vis a vis ensure that our welfare as consumers is protected.

Nigerian fine beings renewed hope for improved quality of telecom service

By Michael Malakata ,
3 Jun, 2012

After being hit by heavy fines for poor services in Nigeria, the region's largest telecom operators have promised to make investments in their networks, spurring hopes for an improvement in quality of service.

Nigeria seems to have opened the way for improved telecom services after the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) fined Airtel, MTN, Glo Mobile and Etisalat a total of US$7.4 million in the last two months for poor quality of service.

All four operators issued a joined statement last week in which they claimed they were committed to providing high quality of service to their customers by continuing to invest in and build networks. The operators said however, that fines will not bring about the desired improvements overnight or offer a lasting solution but will merely deplete essential resources that would otherwise be deployed for network rollout.

"We are concerned that the regime of sanctions could create an atmosphere of anxiety and regulatory uncertainty which is unattractive to investment," said the operators in a joint statement.

The operators said they were equally frustrated and concerned about the failure to meet customer expectations and needs. They blamed the absence of a reliable power supply as one of the causes of the failure to meet quality of service levels. Every single site, they said, is powered throughout the year by two diesel generators and requires a regular supply of diesel as well as security protection.

Poor service provision by operators is generally considered to be a result of lack of investment in network upgrades and has become a source of concern in many African countries where customers are losing money on uncompleted calls.

Dropped phone calls, network congestion and a widespread lack of network availability are problems that plague African mobile phone customers. Several countries in the region, including Zambia and Uganda, are moving to protect subscribers from exploitation by developing laws that will impose heavy fines on operators for poor service levels.

In Nigeria, the four operators said they have in the last 10 years invested 1 trillion Nigeria naira (over $6 billion) and would this year alone invest 400 billion Nigerian naira. The operators pointed out, however, that in the telecom industry such investments do not yield the requisite improvement in the quality of service until well after 12 months.

The operators said they are actively competing against each other on quality of service to win the loyalty of existing customers and attract new subscribers. The operators also claimed that they have been subject to indiscriminate closure of sites by government ministries and agencies as well as state and local governments in pursuit of multiple taxation of telecom infrastructure.

The Uganda Communication Commission (UCC) has warned operators providing poor quality services of heavy fines by the end of the year once legislation to allow the government to fine operators for low-quality service is passed.

In Nigeria, the NCC, not the country's government, is responsible for fining operators for poor quality of service.

The Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA), the country's telecom sector regulator, has developed a code of conduct that imposes stiff penalties on operators that provide poor services. Zambia Consumer Association Executive Director Muyunda Ililonga said, "the code will help bring sanity in the telecommunication sector as operators will fear being punished."

Computer world

ZACA says increase in bus fares unjustified

The Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA) says it is unjustifiable for bus operators in Lusaka to link the increase in bus fares to the revised minimum wage.

ZACA Executive Director Muyunda Ililonga has told Qfm News that the new minimum wage should not be a scapegoat for imposing higher bus fares on commuters.

Mr. Ililonga has since called on government to come to the aid of commuters and stop the move by bus operators.

He has also urged government to put in place a long lasting solution to the challenges in the transport sector taking into account the ever increasing population in order to restore sanity in the sector.

Mr. Ililonga has further urged transporters to rescind their decision of increasing bus fares adding that the move will have an adverse effect on the growth of the transport system in the country.

On Monday, Bus Operators on all routes in Lusaka resolved to have fares in all routes increased by K600 with immediate effect.

( Wednesday 01st August 2012 )

QFM