“The Council of Ministers has decided to set up a major unit, at the level of an agency, at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for consumer protection,” Alireza told a seminar in Riyadh entitled “Consumer Protection in Saudi Arabia: Vision and Global Experience.”

He said the ministry had signed an agreement with a specialized international company to prepare a futuristic vision of the new agency with the objective of improving its efficiency and enabling it to provide the best possible services to the public.

“The company has prepared a report, which has been presented to higher authorities to implement recommendations,” the minister said, adding that the agency would work for protecting consumer rights and encouraging fair business.

He said the strategy to develop the agency would be carried out at a three-year short-term level and an eight-year long-term level. Alireza referred to some of the measures taken by his ministry for consumer protection including the price index for consumer goods.

“The price index is our first project for consumer protection,” Alireza said, adding that his ministry would follow its performance and develop it by introducing new services. “Last week we introduced two services through the index’s website allowing consumers to know about prices of goods in various cities in the country,” he explained. Consumers can also register with the website in order to receive daily prices of products by SMS.

Alireza called upon the public to cooperate with the ministry by providing it with information about substandard, harmful and imitation products in the market. Those who want to inform the ministry of such goods should ring up the toll-free number 8001241616.

The new price index that was launched earlier this year covers foodstuffs such as flour, rice, vegetable oil, red meat, poultry, barley, powdered milk and commodities such as steel and cement.

Under the program, prices of consumer goods are monitored electronically. The ministry has appointed 340 officials to monitor prices. A number of supermarkets and commercial centers provide price lists to the ministry electronically. People can see prices of various consumer goods at the ministry’s website: http://cpi.mci.gov.sa/cpi/Default.aspx

The Riyadh seminar, organized by the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), was attended by experts from countries such as the United States, Britain and Singapore. In his welcoming speech, IPA chief Abdul Rahman Al-Shaqawi referred to the measures taken by the government to protect consumers. They included regulations to combat trade fraud, the trademark law, the fair competition law, regulations to fight monopolies and the law to combat information crimes. Three years ago the government established an association for consumer protection that defended the interests of consumers and increases their awareness.

He said most consumers in the Kingdom were not aware of their rights and the content of products they purchase. “Consumers will not be able to make sound purchase decisions due to a lack of information recorded on products,” he pointed out.