The concept of consumer rights is the idea that citizens have a right to safe, quality products and detailed information about the products and the corporations manufacturing them.

February 27 is marked as the Day for Supporting Consumers.
Consumer protection movements have evolved and grown worldwide in the past few decades. This global drive to protect and uphold consumer interests is amply reflected in the guidelines adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1985 (Resolution 39/248) for the protection of consumer rights, and in the efforts of international organizations such as Consumer International. Consumer protection movements reflect the social and cultural patterns and attitudes of a given society in which they operate, as well as promote good market practices and sustainable consumption patterns. Consumer movements not only protect consumer rights, but also aim to educate consumers about their responsibilities and build a more equitable and fair society.
The United Nations categorizes consumer rights to be the right to satisfaction of basic needs, to safety, to be informed, to choose, to be heard, to redress, to consumer education as well as to healthy and sustainable environment.
The law on supporting consumer rights in Iran is often termed as outdated and needs to be revised to meet the growing demands of today’s customers.
Although the law was exclusively designed to uphold the rights of consumers, nevertheless, the legislation lacks comprehensibility and needs to undergo major modifications.
A plan was drafted by the government some 12 years ago to this end but was not put on parliament agenda until the final days of the Sixth Parliament when it was passed in first reading.
Comparative studies in other countries point out that the role of popular bodies such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has in recent years increased considerably as they are widely engaged in activities aimed at promoting the rights of consumers.
A comprehensive law to support consumers and existence of related expert bodies are two features of successful economies absent in this country.
The concept of consumer rights is the idea that citizens have a right to safe, quality products and detailed information about the products and the corporations manufacturing them.
Governments have adopted wide-ranging legislative enforcements applying to protect consumers. The focus mostly is on ensuring that goods are of satisfactory quality; that products last a reasonable time and are free of defects; that goods are as described; a trader or advertisement must honestly describe the product, and products must do what the supplier says they do.


Legal Vacuum
Consumer-related laws in Iran have not been working in the direction of upholding the rights of customers.
That is because, legal experts say, the existing law endures a legal vacuum to the extent that it makes the practice of respecting the rights of Iranian consumers, under the present economic system, almost non-existent.
Nasser Choubdar, a lawyer, says laws tending to consumer rights, aside from being outdated, bear rhetorical rather than executive value.
Choubdar told ISNA in an interview that the Iranian Constitution categorizes the economy as being run by the state, the private and the cooperatives sectors.
Supporters of consumer rights advocate a free market economy, saying it is under such circumstances that consumers can win their rights.
“In Iran, laws and regulations apply to a state-run economy, undermining the prospects for fulfilling customer privileges and yet this should not imply that the support for consumers should go completely disregarded.“
From the legal point of view, he says there are only a few laws that relate to consumer rights and yet the major shortcoming is lack of executive guarantee and not their limited number.
“Lack of executive guarantee, in the meantime, stems from poor management and an apparent unawareness on the part of officials on the importance of ensuring that customers get what they deserve from producers for the sake of boosting productivity, and ultimately economic growth.“
Choubdar says every single citizen is viewed as a customer and therefore entitled to a set of rights.
Choubdar says the government, instead of acting as the sole authority for deciding and implementing economic affairs should, among other things, make sure that producers reveal every detail of their products to customers so as to give the latter a chance to choose the brand based on the information made available.
Once again, the legal expert stresses that laws in Iran pertaining to support for consumer rights are advice-giving, failing to provide executive guarantee.

Realities
Another lawyer says defining consumer rights is both a reflection of economic realities in a given society next to setting the ’musts’ and ’must-not’.
“At times, consumer rights represent the economic beliefs of a political system and not necessarily a reflection of economic realities,“ says Hassan Bayat.
Bayat says political regimes each advocate distinct economic, cultural and social values and objectives. “For example, the definition and guidelines given on consumer and producer rights in liberalized economies bears totally distinctive features from that offered by governments in a state-controlled, capitalist or communist-based economy. That is why I say definition provided in each country is on the one hand, a reflection of economic realities and on the other hand, description of what musts and must-not a government is pursuing.“
As to the case of Iran, Bayat says consumer rights should come under scrutiny taking into view characteristics of a state-run economy and theories behind it, which impact economic and trade relations.
For example, he says, because the government in Iran controls the economy and thus its decisions overshadow all economic and trade undertakings at national and international levels, laws and regulations inevitably work to expand state’s supervisory and executive control over the economy. “This fact of the Iranian economy might have worked to the disadvantage of customers by relieving the producers of the obligation to reveal the necessary information to their potential buyers on the premise that they are nevertheless entitled to state financial and policy support.“
“Not caring to observe hygienic standards is one upshot of this thinking.“
While pointing out that respect for the rights of customers is an effective strategy for promoting free economy, the expert nevertheless maintains that the economic model every political system adopts should take into account the country’s main economic, geographical, social, cultural variables, making the final regulations bearing both strong and weak points.
Still, he draws attention to the fact that today governments even in closed-economies are making genuine efforts to bring their economic policies in line with global requisites to gain the highest profit; one way of which would be attracting more customers by convincing them that their rights have been upheld.
Bayat says despite all emphasis by government officials on reducing state control over the economy within macro development plans, next year’s budget plan still works in the direction of expanding government control over the economy and enforces mandatory laws.
A legal expert and Allameh Tabatabaie University lecturer Gholam-Nabi Feizi Chekab believes government presence to protect consumer rights is necessary when it comes to less developed economies like that of Iran.
He says Iran’s legal system and the economic system as a whole do not recognize the rights of customers. “It can be said that laws and regulations with respect to upholding consumer rights literally do not exist in this country.“
He says technological and scientific advances have resulted in abundance of, for example, a certain commodity in the global market including foodstuff as well as medicinal, chemical, industrial and consumer products each bearing its own qualitative and quantitative characteristics.
“In a bid to ensure Iranian producers successfully exhibit their products both in domestic and global markets, the government should soon come up with a comprehensive law aimed at forging exchange of necessary information between producers and consumers.“
Customers, he says, have every right to know everything that they should know about the products they intend to buy.
“Lack of respect for consumer rights has cost both the Iranian producer and customer dearly,“ says Bayat.

Energy consumption of new buildings can be reduced by as much as 40 percent through use of a systems engineering approach.

With prices of essential goods and consumption levels of all types of fuel and energy sources perpetually increasing, it is necessary to introduce an efficient energy management system to optimize fuel consumption in all state-run and private organizations and sectors nationwide. It is also important to note that fuel optimization should not be for a temporary period only. For the same reason, achieving the optimum results should be within a long-term framework. Therefore, it is crucial to involve all organizations in the fuel optimization scheme, writes Moj news agency.
There are three aspects in which state-run organizations could help to reduce the cost of energy demand: improving insulation, improving heat distribution, and the use of non-fossil sources.
To start with, at workplaces, facility users could turn off the lights and office equipment during unoccupied periods; discontinue the use of personal or room electric heaters whenever practical; and keep maintenance staff advised of energy inefficiencies.
Facility operators and maintenance staff could also maintain all building systems, equipment and lighting systems at maximum efficiency; cycle off systems during non-operational hours; and replace older equipment with smart energy-efficient equipment.
To implement these measures effectively, the official organizations and executive bodies should work together and also include the private sector as well.
At the moment it is compulsory for all state-run buildings as well as those in the private sector located in Tehran Province and other major cities to implement Article 19 of national building regulations, which came into effect this year.
The energy consumption of new buildings can be reduced by as much as 40 percent through use of a systems engineering approach. The building society and contractors should work to construct buildings that incorporate energy and material-saving strategies from the very start of the construction process Ñ the design. Other practices in constructing buildings could include using advanced framing and insulation methods to increase efficiency and comfort while decreasing energy costs.
Based on a recent study, comprehensive projects such as installation of Thermostatic tap water in certain schools nationwide has helped save energy and fuel by up to 40 percent. It is difficult to watch a day’s worth of water, particularly when there are drought-stricken regions, go uselessly down the drain due to lack of water-saving habits. Unfortunately, this is an everyday event in many parts of the country. It is upsetting to think of the millions of liters of water going waste, which could easily be conserved by having proper thermostatic taps in public places such as schools, hospitals and government organizations.
Efforts to save energy and fuel nationwide are already under progress. To supplement them the officials and engineers working in the construction sector should devise comprehensive guidelines for fuel optimization, pay attention to the engineering rules and regulations introduced and promoted by the municipalities, and follow all standard procedures.