The department of Consumer Affairs deals with more than 2,000 complaints and inquiries a year and Minister of Community Affairs and Sport, Randolph Horton yesterday announced that next week will be the Consumer Affairs week.

Several initiatives have been planned including various presentations to retail businesses to clarify issues related to the Consumer Protection Act 1999 and how the Act impacts on their business practices.

Staff of the department will be guests on local radio talk programmes to inform consumers and businesses of their rights and responsibilities.

A resource guide specifically designed for eight to 14 year-olds has also been developed and distributed to teachers to help them teach basic consumer information to students.

A panel discussion regarding prescriptive and nonprescriptive medications for seniors will take place at the Royal Artillery Association Club (RAA) in St. George's on November 30 and an informative consumer insert will appear in Tuesday's edition of The Royal Gazette.

In addition, the department has developed some educational commercials which will be broadcast in English and Portuguese and accessible to the hearing impaired.

Mr. Horton told his fellow MP's in the House of Assembly yesterday that in December 1999, the Progressive Labour Party (PLP) Government introduced Bermuda's first ever Consumer Protection Legislation which established the Department of Consumer Affairs, made the Consumer Affairs Board statutory, and protected consumers from unfair business practices and unsociable acts.

The Act also allowed the department to declare products safe and if necessary make timely recalls and gave the department the teeth it needed to enforce the law and assist consumers with redress.

As a result of these initiatives, Mr Horton said the department had experienced a 106 percent decrease in consumer complaints and said: "The business sector is to be commended for their willingness to work alongside the Department of Consumer Affairs in making the necessary changes to ensure compliance with the Act."

Since January 2001, the department has overseen 35 mandatory recalls of items ranging from toys to appliances and from computers to bike car parts. The most recent recall involving juice extractors was just this week.