Monday, October 28, 2013

ONE in five consumer business executive say that “the economy and consumer demand” is their single most important concern for 2013, and over 40 percent identify it as one of their top three. In fact, of the top five issues that are most frequently identified as a top priority, four are related to growth (including “the economy and consumer demand,” “growth and international expansion,” “R&D and innovation,” and “consumer marketing”).
 Growth issues, operations issues, responsibility issuesTHE operational issues (including “supply-chain management and procurement,” “retailer-supplier relations,” “operations technology” and “people/human resources [HR]”) are selected as a top priority 32 percent of the time, and issues primarily related to responsibility and/or regulation (including “corporate responsibility,” “governance and regulation,” “food and product safety,” and “consumer health and nutrition”) are identified as a top three priority 22 percent of the time.

Manufacturers vs retailers
ALTHOUGH both sectors rank “the economy and consumer demand” and “growth and international expansion” most often as a top priority, manufacturers are more focused on these issues than retailers.

Select key findings
Driving revenue, profit and growth are at the top of the consumer executive agenda.
Executives’ top ranking of issues related to revenue, profits and growth are fueled by varying economic circumstances. In Western Europe, for example, where confidence levels remain low. Companies are focused on sales and growth in order to sustain profits. In North America, on the other hand, modest improvement in the economy and consumer spending are creating more of a cautiously optimistic outlook as companies look to expand.
There is a continued focus on operations as a lever to fulfill growth and reduce costs.
Although companies are most focused on growth, continued pressure on margins due to rising costs and competition means they still need to continually find more efficient ways to manufacture and deliver products to their customers.
Responsibility and regulation issues are a particularly high priority for the food sector.
For companies operating in the food-and-beverage sector, the issues of food and product safety and [consumer health and nutrition are most likely to rank as a top priority. In Western Europe and Asia Pacific, this is especially true, where food and product safety is the most frequently cited number one concern among food and beverage respondents.

Larger companies, and companies in emerging markets, are most likely to identify corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a top concern.
Companies with bigger and increasingly complex supply chain face greater ongoing challenges regarding CSR, as well as greater stakeholder scrutiny. Fast-growing companies in emerging economies, on the other hand, are often dealing with comparatively less mature CSR programs that demand more attention and concern.
 More powerful consumers are an opportunity.
Companies recognize the power and influence of consumers and are altering their focus to work with the consumer and meet their needs, rather than on trying to influence them. An increase in informed consumers is expected to have the most positive impact on profitability and 39 percent say that more health-conscious and educated consumers provide the greatest opportunity for their organization. One-third expect to collaborate with consumers as a means of innovation.
Businesses are grappling with technology.
Partnerships with technology providers are expected to be a key means for innovation and one-third say data will be the most important means of technology for increasing sales and profits. However, 41 percent of companies also say that the technology poses a major challenge for them. Managing customer data and data security is ranked as the largest technology problem and roughly 80 percent think mobile technology poses some kind of challenge as well.
 Focus on product and brand to drive sales.
Product development and marketing are the highest priority in terms of R&D and investment, and sustainability/environment initiatives are the lowest. Brand building and pricing are top marketing priorities, followed by the newer trend of consumer data analytics. However, online/mobile sales, social media and mobile app development rank further down.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to continue the Plan Scheme for creation of consumer awareness with a total outlay of Rs.409.29 crore.

The fund will be utilized during the 12th Five Year Plan for strengthening the consumer movement by increasing consumer literacy through a sustained campaign about consumers' rights and responsibilities.

The approved Scheme envisages extensive use of newspapers, radio, television and other mediums for spreading consumer awareness. Additionally, the existing campaign of Jago Grahak Jago will be further strengthened so as to reach all parts of the country in an effective manner.

Further, Various States and Union Territories will be provided financial assistance for carrying out such awareness campaigns in regional languages.

The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 has guaranteed several rights toIndian consumers regarding quality, quantity, purity of goods etc. The consumers have a right to approach various consumer fora for redressal of their grievances.

It is felt necessary that the Indian consumers particularly in rural areas should be made aware about their legal rights and also the procedure for filing complaints.

The existing grievance redressal mechanism, it is felt, needs to be popularized. (ANI)

Friday, October 18, 2013

At the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry's (FICCI) Food World India 2013, which took place in Mumbai recently, food regulators from India, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Netherlands concurred that while the introduction of stringent food laws – keeping in mind the safety of consumers – is the need of the hour, doing so would be a difficult task.

India
Vinod Kotwal, director, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said, “FSSAI, which came into existence in the year 2008, has very strict and robust food safety standards and guidelines.”

“In order to provide safe food from the farm gate to the consumer's plate, we have set up a science base standards for the food business operators (FBOs), so that safe food can reach the consumers. Even producers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and wholesalers are consumers of food at large, and therefore, they should think about the safety of the consumers first,” she added.

“The Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA), 2006, was implemented on August 5, 2011, and has just completed two years. We have to go a long way and set up more science-based standards consulting the scientific panels and committees,” Kotwal said.

“We need more innovations, new packaging technology, research and development (R&D) support and good labelling rules, and must comply with the standards. Although we have robust food safety laws, we are still trying to strengthen our food safety regulations. We are also taking the help of the developed and other developing countries in order to achieve the goal of strong food safety law,” she added.

The US
Mary Frances Lowe, US Codex manager, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), said that the food safety law in the country was a robust one and kept the safety of consumers in mind the US. She added that USDA provided numerous food safety resources to educate the public about food safety and assist them. These include Residue Information, Food Safety Research, FoodSafety.gov, Ednet and Be Food Safe.

Australia and New Zealand
Speaking on the topic 'Food research reaching markets: Decoding global food safety management system', Greg Read, chair, Codex committee on food import and export inspection and certification systems (CCFICS) Autralia, said setting up strict food guidelines was a difficult task faced by the food regulators, and it would be necessary to maintain a food regulatory system that delivers safe food for the country's population and enables consumers to make informed choices and nutrients.

Urging the public to have confidence in the food regulations, he stated, “Food safety is a difficult ride. Autralia and New Zealand have well-deserved reputations for safe and clean food supply. Food Standards Autralia and New Zealand (FSANZ), while setting up the guidelines for food safety, follow very strict laws.”

“From the industry's point of view, we take into consideration food recalls, food safety standards information, food labelling, novel foods and nutritional panel calculator. And from the consumers' point of view, additives, chemicals in food, food allergies and intolerance, food safety and various other safety-related issues is taken into consideration. We have scientific strategies, and also the expertise, to formulate science-based safety standards,” Read added.

Canada
Samuel Godefroy, the Canadian government's Codex vice-chair, stated, “When compared to those of other countries, Canada's food safety standards are the most robust. We know that food safety is the joint responsibility of farmers, food manufacturers, food distributors, food service establishments, retailers consumers and the government, and therefore, we educate all of them so that the consumers get safe and healthy food on their plates.”

Stating that the department of justice was responsible for maintaining the consolidated status and regulations for the government of Canada, he added, “We have brought about many amendments to our recent regulations, and most of the acts and regulations in the new guidelines are current as of August 25, 2013. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is reducing the burden on business and improving services to stakeholders by streamlining regulations and cutting red tape.”

CFIA has been entrusted with the task of enforcing the regulations pertaining to food and related products. It carries out inspections of the premises of FBOs in order to ensure safe and healthy food for the population of Canada,” Godefroy added.

The Netherlands
Martin Weijtens, chair, Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF), the Netherlands, said that the task of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority was to control the whole production chain, from raw materials and processing aids to end products and consumption.was to monitor food and consumer products in order to safeguard human and animal health and welfare.

He added that the three main tasks of the authority – an independent agency under the auspices of the country's economic affairs ministry, which also acts as a delivery agency for the ministry of health, welfare and sport – were supervision, risk assessment and risk communication.

Monday, October 14, 2013

The consumer protection Act provides a remedy against doctors who turn into butchers for money. 

Jayapal Reddy's wife, Kusuma, was a patient of gynaecologist Dr Padmini Valluri since 2006 when she delivered her first child. In 2009, she consulted Dr Valluri for menstrual problems. She was diagnosed with fibroid uterus and endometriosis, for which medications were given. On July 2010, during a follow-up, after an ultrasound examination, she was admitted to Yashoda Group of Hospitals in Secunderabad. Jayapal later learnt that Dr Valluri had operated on Kusuma and performed a total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-opherectomy with adhesiolysis.

Jayapal said claimed the operation was done without a valid consent from his wife or him. He said that due to abdominal pain, fear, and a disturbed state of mind, Kusuma could not give an informed consent and that the hospital had taken his signatures on a blank form. He said the hospital did not pay heed to his request to provide information related to the operation theatre documents and a case-sheet copy. Jayapal also claimed that he was not informed about the hysterectomy even after the surgery. He said the doctor had removed the fallopian tubes and ovaries unnecessarily, despite availability of alternative methods. 

Jayapal wanted another child, which would have been possible through IVF or the test-tube method with the help of a surrogate mother. But now, with his wife's ovaries and reproductive organs removed, it was not possible. Jayapal approached the state as well as the National Human Rights Commission, the Medical Council of India, and secretary of the heath and family welfare department of the government of India. He also filed a consumer complaint before the national commission. The commission served notices to the doctor and the hospital. However, they ignored the notices and the complaint was decided ex parte after the commission heard Jayapal, who argued the case himself.

The panel observed that there were gross discrepancies in the sonography report, the operation theatre findings, and the surgical pathology report. As per the sonography report, the anterior wall fibroid was 87x62 mm, but the operation notes mention it as a bulky uterus with multiple fibroids of size 25x15 cm, while the surgical histopathology report does not mention the presence of any fibroid.It questioned why both the ovaries were removed when the right one was normal with only a single fibroid, as per the sonography report. There was no explanation why an alternative line of conservative treatment was not adopted. The commission referred to various medical text books on the adverse effects of hysterectomy combined with removal of ovaries in patients below 40 years of age. It held that Kusuma's case was a deliberate misadventure, making her dependant on lifelong hormonal therapy. 

The commission elaborately dealt with the concept of consent. "It is not an event of obtaining signatures on paper before a patient submits to a particular treatment, but it is a process of communication. It is a proactive process of making sufficient disclosure, empowering the patient to consciously decide on what he or she considers best after understanding the pros and cons involved. Every adult of sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with her/his body, and a surgeon who performs an operation without the patient's consent commits an assault for which s/he is liable in damages. This holds good except in medical emergencies, where a patient is unconscious and it is necessary to operate without delay. 

The commission observed that studies conducted in India had revealed that a significant percentage of illiterate and lower-income group women had been referred to private hospitals by registered medical practitioners, who received kickbacks for the referrals. These women were made to undergo hysterectomies without their consents. In its November 12, 2009 edition, TOI reported about women in Chennai, some only 25 years old, being made to undergo hysterectomies to raise insurance claims. On July 31, 2010, TOI reported about how a group of 20-year-old girls from Kannaram village in Andhra Pradesh were being made to undergo hysterectomies for abdominal pain. Another newspaper had reported on August 27, 2012, that over 16,000 hysterectomies in Bihar, most unnecessary, had been done at private hospitals during the previous year to avail insurance benefits under the National Health Insurance Scheme—Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY). Under the scheme, a family below the poverty line is entitled to Rs 30,000 for hospitalization.

The commission also observed that private nursing homes used RSBY to cheat women and conduct unnecessary hysterectomies for petty monetary gains. Such surgeries can have disastrous effects, like osteoporosis and heart diseases, requiring women to undergo hormone replacement therapy that can cause depression. Castigating unscrupulous doctors for their "hippocratic oaths" and for removing the very essence of womanhood for monetary gains, the commission suggested that the ministry of health and family welfare and the Medical Council of India initiate stringent action against erring doctors to protect innocent women. It observed that ovaries and fallopian tubes are of distinct value to a female and removal of these would require separate specific consent. In its order on September 20, 2013, delivered by Dr S M Kantikar for the bench, along with Justice J M Malik, the commission indicted Dr Valluri and the hospital of medical negligence and directed them to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation with 9% interest from the date of operation. If the order is not complied within three months, it would carry an additional further interest of 9%.
Impact: A doctor who operates without proper consent commits an assault on the patient, for which he is liable to pay compensation.
(The author is a consumer activist and has won the government of India's national youth award for consumer protection.) 
Courtesy: TOI