Revision made on Regulations of Consumer Arbitration Centre
A dispatch by the Secretary for Economy and Finance was published in Series II of the Official Gazette no. 5 on 31 January 2018, rectifying the revision of section 2, article 11 of the “Regulations of Consumer Arbitration Centre” to adopt the use of long-distance transmission technology, such as video conference, to facilitate cross-border mediation and hearing. The Consumer Council states that the aim of revising the Regulations is to safeguard the right to claim of tourists returning to their own places of origin, to improve the efficiency of the Consumer Arbitration Centre, and to enhance consumers’ confidence to shop in Macao. The Council has proposed to consumer organizations in the Greater Bay Area to set up a mechanism for cross-border arbitration.
As Macaois positioning itself into a World CentreofTourism and Leisure, numerous tourists arrive to shop, in order to enhance their confidence in local shopping environment and solve their intention of not to claim due to time and transport constraints, the Consumer Council carried out research to revise the Regulations to adopt the use of cross-border arbitration and hearing with the consent of the Arbitration Judge in the future, this brings convenience to tourists who lodge their complaints in Macao and ensures they are still protected to get a fair and reasonable judgement once they return to their places of origin.
In 2017, the Council received 574 complaint cases from tourists, 6 of these were referred to the Consumer Arbitration Centre for process, the Council hopes the revision will better consumer protection measures, it will not only boost consumers’ confidence but also drive more tourists to use the service of the Centre to be more protected.
In order to catch up with the trend and development of consumption made by residents in each other’s regions, the Consumer Council is planning to propose to consumer organizations in the Mainland and nearby regions to add a clause for carrying out cross-border arbitration in the mutual agreements signed previously.
In order to catch up with the development of the Greater Bay Area and the trend of consumption made by consumers in each other’s regions, the Consumer Council is planning to work with consumer organizations in the Greater Bay Area to carry out cross-border arbitration first, and then extend to other provinces and cities that have signed mutual agreements with the Council.