National Consumer Policy 2.0 launching in 3Q

PUTRAJAYA (Feb 20): The National Consumer Policy (DPN) 2.0, which has been enhanced, will be launched simultaneously with the Consumerism Action Plan 2030 (PTK) in the third quarter of this year, to empower the consumerism agenda in Malaysia.

Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said after more than two decades, there is a need for the policy to be improved by taking into account the economic development, current demand and the need for a more holistic consumerism agenda.

Speaking to the media after attending the Consumer Empowerment Initiative Dialogue Session, here on Tuesday, Armizan said DPN 2.0 was designed based on three things, namely people's participation, legislation and enforcement as well as consumer value education.

"These are three important components because we want this DPN to be not only a government policy but a policy that will be implemented as a whole for the nation, it also belongs to non-governmental organisations [NGOs] and stakeholders so that they can move together with the government and KPDN to successfully implement this policy.

"We want to see also through DPN 2.0, the core of our agenda in consumerism is to be able to shift from consumer protection to consumer resilience," he said.

Armizan said DPN 2.0 also includes improvements in various aspects including legislation in order to protect the rights and resilience of consumers.

"For example, the aspect that has been raised is the 'Lemon Law' which we will also see through this consumerism policy whether we need specific legislation related to this law or we can improve the existing legislation.

The 'Lemon Law' is a remedy for buyers of cars and other consumer goods to compensate for products that repeatedly fail to meet quality and performance standards.

"We will also look from the aspect of e-commerce and artificial intelligence (AI) because there are many changes from the basic aspect of the economy, not only in this country, but the world," he said.

He said his party is now actively engaging with various parties, especially stakeholders including NGOs, media representatives and industry players to improve the draft DPN 2.0 framework.

"We are opening a space so that they [NGOs, media and stakeholders], have time and can provide that view more comprehensively until March 15 in conjunction with the National and World Consumer Day.

"On March 15, we will open up space for them to officially submit their recommendations and views on the draft DPN 2.0 that we shared with them today," he said.

He said after his ministry formulated the recommendations and views presented, the process of drafting the improved DPN and PTK documents would go through the Regulatory Impact Assessment phase supervised by the Malaysian Productivity Corp (MPC).

"So after the Regulatory Impact Analysis is completed and we can come out with a Regulatory Impact Statement, to prepare a Cabinet of Ministers memorandum for approval before launching at the appointed time," he said. –The Edge Malaysia