CCA’s secretary-general Yang Hongcan said “The Consumer Protection Law will be amended this year, and we will be allowed to help consumers through legal representation.” It was quoted by Monday’s China Daily. He said for the past 25 years, the CCA’s role has been limited to mediating in disputes between consumers and vendors sooner than the issue entered the legal process. Yang said “Once the issue reaches the courts, we cannot do anything.”

Citing tainted-milk scandal in 2008, he said that if the CCA had the right to represent consumers in court, then the victims would have been able to register their cases with the local association office and entrust it to represent the victims in court. Yang said that would have saved both time and money, and provided them with all types’ information about their legal rights. On the other hand, Dean of Beijing-based Huijia Law Firm Qiu Baochang said “In many cases such as the milk scandal, it is hard for the consumer, as an individual, to have his or her rights protected. It is necessary to empower consumer organizations to represent groups of consumers in court.”

The association received around 648,000 complaints from 4.38 million consumers in 2008 and helped them recover over 66 million Yuan through measures for example refunds and product recalls. The officials hope after the amended of law they can help more to the consumer.

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