THE DIRECTORATE OF CONSUMER PROTECTION
Kingdom of Bahrain is one of the pioneer countries in the Arabian Gulf in the field of consumer protection, having established the Directorate of Supplies & Price Control back in the seventies, with the responsibility of inter alia consumer protection.
The growing importance of maintaining a well-regulated market for protection of both merchants and consumers, led the Ministry to change the name of the Directorate in the nineties to the Directorate of Supplies & Consumer Protection, reorienting the focus of the Directorate from a concentration on prices, to consumer protection in its wider sense.
This era was also witness to the Government changing its overall policies to that of being a business facilitator, and hence started the process of privatization of Government owned assets in order to facilitate and motivate more private sector involvement in the economy. The Supplies function of the Directorate was one of the first Government services to be privatized.
Whilst the Directorate of Consumer Protection is the focus for Government consumer protection activities, other Directorates both within the Ministry of Commerce, and other Ministries, also play an important role in this field, such as the Directorate of Standards & Metrology; the Directorate of Industrial Property, the Commercial Agencies Section; the Directorate of Public Health, The Customs, etc., each according to their respective disciplines.
Mission Statement Of Consumer Protection Directorate:
The CPD conducts consumer investigations, research and analysis, develops consumer education programs and materials and responds to individual complaints by working to settle disputes among consumers and merchants.
Directorate’s Function:
In particular, the directorate undertakes the following functions:
- Continuously review and recommend changes to consumer protection legislation to ensure that an appropriate level of protection is maintained in accordance with local conditions and international trends.
- Spread consumer awareness in Bahrain through lectures and various media.
- Pay special attention to cases regarding consumer protection.
- In particular, the directorate Receive and follow up incoming complaints from consumers of various types and find proper solutions.
- Monitor markets and prepare periodical reviews in this regard.
- Participate in preparing family expenditure research in liaison with CSO.
- Cooperate with all related firms to ensure application of consumer protection laws