Market inspection to be made more effective
KATHMANDU, JUN 07 -
The government has prepared a draft of the Joint Market Monitoring Directive 2012 to implement an integrated market monitoring mechanism to protect consumer rights.
The directive prepared by the National Vigilance Centre (NVC) is expected to make market inspection effective amid growing concerns of substandard products, including edibles, being sold in the market.
The new directive will replace the earlier system where each department—commerce and supply, food quality, calibration and drugs—used to conduct their own market inspections.
However, these inspections had not been effective due to a conflict of interest among the agencies. The directive mentions carrying out effective market inspection throughout the year. NVC chief officer Suresh Kumar Shrestha said that integrated monitoring could help end monopoly and promote healthy competition in the market.
The directive has prescribed forming a monitoring committee under the Department of Commerce in the Kathmandu valley while those from outside the valley will be led by the Central District Officer or the department head of government entities. The committees will have to submit their progress reports to the Central Monitoring and Evaluation Committee every two weeks.
The directive has envisioned forming a five-member market monitoring team to implement integrated market inspection. “The team members will include representatives from the concerned government entities to ensure effective market monitoring,” said Shrestha.
It has suggested assigning various government entities to supervise their respective areas which include both goods and services. The goods which have been identified for inspection include edibles, stationery items, electronic products, jewellery, measuring devices and pesticides, among others. Similarly, it has mentioned service businesses related to environment, foreign employment, tourism, communication and water supply as areas to be monitored.
The directive has also urged controlling the syndicates and cartels prevailing in the market. For the purpose, it has recommended to the government to make organisations like Nepal Salt Trading and National Trading Limited well equipped. In addition, it has suggested fixing a floor price for saleable goods. “The floor price will be set by including the costs of production, transportation and risk management and a nominal profit margin,” said Shrestha.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
