THE Consumer Goods Council of South Africa will establish a retail ombudsman to handle unresolved consumer complaints ranging from sour milk and worms in cans to dodgy cosmetics and broken appliances.

Patricia Pillay, head of the SA Retail Council, recently formed as a voice of retailers within the CGCSA, said yesterday that a steering committee set up to draft an industry wide code of good practice in response to the new Consumer Protection Act, had noticed the need for an alternative dispute resolution process.

The CGCSA has about 11 000 members, including retailers, wholesalers and logistics companies.
"We have been proactive and feel it is pointless having an Act but no enforcement, and hence we are working towards setting up an ombudsman. We have the constitution and terms of reference for the ombudsman ready," Pillay said.

"The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is quite excited and favouring it. From an industry point of view, they (members) have all bought in and would rather be self-regulated. The DTI is quite clear that if we don't set it up, it is going to have to look at setting it up," Pillay said. "We have not got to the stage of choosing the ombudsman yet. We are just finalising the figures."

Pillay said the council had engaged with the banking and motor industry ombudsmen to gauge best practice, and consumers could be assured that the new ombudsman would be independent.

Businesses subscribing to the voluntary scheme would have to comply with awards that the ombudsman made in favour of consumers.

"The ombudsman is a service to the consumer - it will range from 'I bought a pint of milk and it was off and the retailer did not take it back' to perhaps 'I bought a face product and it caused a rash or irritation on my skin'.

"It is positive for consumers. There is such a fear for this Act, and we are saying to our members: let's not fear it, it's something good for our country - let's work with it," Pillay said.

She said the council would present a potential funding model to industry, but it had struggled to assess the likely complaints volume.

Pillay said a time-frame for establishing the office had not been set, but the council hoped to have a help desk by the time the Act came into force in October.

She said many businesses already incorporated the requirements of the Act into their codes and best practices, because they operated responsibly in the best interests of consumers.