A survey on the evaluation of Consumer Council’s ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ conducted earlier shows that most consumers and ‘Certified Shops’ and ‘Adherents’ interviewed agreed to increase the number of days of the current monthly ‘No Plastic Bag Day’. Survey details have been published in the latest issue of Consumer Report. In order to better the current ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ scheme, the Council interviewed over 800 consumers and 52 retail stores participating in the scheme for their opinion and statistics, etc. Survey result shows that most interviewees were aware of ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ on 28th of each month, quite a number of consumers said they had reduced the number of plastic bags used since the scheme launched and now had their own shopping bag; however, such data was not reflected from surveys collected from ‘Certified Shops’ and ‘Adherents’. Consumer Council will improve its strategies in promoting ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ base on the result of the said survey. When asked about their opinion on the number of ‘No Plastic Bag Day’, both consumers and ‘Certified Shops’ and ‘Adherents’ participating in the scheme agreed to increase the number of days of the current scheme; most interviewees voted for a weekly scheme, others chose biweekly or three times a month; the suggestion of making every day a ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ gained the 3rd largest number of votes. The Council is now planning to increase the number of days of the said scheme. Consumers International (CI) announced its yearly theme for 2011 to be ‘Consumers for Fair Financial Services’. CI states that ‘consumer financial services are complex and exist in a dynamic and fast changing market which can be challenging for consumers. The issue is made all the more pressing by the addition of 150 million new consumers of financial services to the global economy each year - many in countries with low levels of financial literacy and traditionally weak consumer protection.’ CI therefore announced ‘Consumers for Fair Financial Services’ to be its 2011 theme, and provided suggestions to world leaders to make sure consumers around the world are able to receive fair financial services. CI’s key information is listed in the latest Consumer Report. The latest Consumer Report issue no. 210 also introduces the use of electronic money and electric blanket. Consumer Report is now available free of charge at the two offices of the Consumer Council, bookstores and libraries. Consumers may also access the resources online at the Council’s official website (http://www.consumer.gov.mo). For inquiries, please call 8988 9315.
