NASSAU, The Bahamas -- The Consumer Welfare Unit celebrates Consumer Protection Education Month and as such will present an exhibition at the Mall at Marathon in commemoration of World Consumer Rights Day to be officially opened Wednesday, March 18, by the Minister of Labour, National Insurance and the Public Service, the Hon. D. Shane Gibson.

The Unit oversees issues affecting the consumer in the buying of goods and services in the country.

Explaining some of the functions of the Unit’s Consumer Protection Commission (CPC), Chairman of the CPC Senator Jerome Gomez stated that consumers can lodge complaints if they have any issues with merchants, a process that can result in hearings for both sides to share their perspectives. He noted that complaints can be filed on a spectrum of businesses, from the medical and legal professions across the board to utility companies. Persons in Family Islands can also lodge complaints, as the Commission can make visits to them. In addition, town meetings, he said, can be held to answer consumer questions and concerns.

Gomez said they endeavour to protect the consumers who, he said, have been at the mercy of merchants for a very long time. Addressing Grand Bahama and its structure under the Port Authority, he noted mindful of any possible limitations the Commission would nevertheless assure all Bahamians who are affected that they are there to help.

Chairman of the Price Control Commission E. J. Bowe spoke about some of the issues he faced. He noted that implementation of Value-Added Tax (VAT) had some challenges as some of the businesses, especially small stores in the Family Islands, didn't quite understand what to do and what to “mark up.” He said they took time out to show those business owners what to do and emphasized that the price-controlled items couldn't increase one cent after the VAT pricing.

Gomez indicated that there was a VAT seminar at Melia Nassau Beach Resort Thursday to assist merchants in calculating VAT and filing their returns to the government.

Deputy Permanent Secretary in charge of Consumer Affairs Alphaeus Forbes mentioned an exercise at the VAT department on Gladstone Road, March 17, in which a Commission representative was present to explain the regulations from the consumer's perspective.

Forbes added that the CPC has Consumer Officers on almost every Family Island including Freeport “because notwithstanding the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, they're not exempt from the national law.”

In the interest of educating the consumer, the CPC also celebrates the first anniversary of its quarterly publication, Consumer Voice.