PRODUCT SAFETY LEGISLATION IN MALAYSIA: A DISCUSSION ON ITS WEEKNESSES

Shahizad Bin Sulaiman

Introduction

Assuring product safety is one of the important components in providing protection for consumer. Several incidences involving the product safety such as the Thalidomide Tragedy in 60’s has opened the eyes of the governments of the world to make a priority of the product safety issue. Thalidomide was a drug which was marketed during the post-war era to help those who have sleep problem. However, it was discovered later that the drugs have side effects to the pregnant women. In the few short years that thalidomide was available, it was estimated that over 10,000 babies were affected by the drug worldwide. Around half died within months of being born and babies who survived live with physical defects due to the side effect of the drug[1].

In a special message delivered to the Congress on protecting the consumer interest in March 1962, President John F. Kennedy articulated the following inspiring statement:

“If a consumer is offered inferior products, if prices are exorbitant, if drugs are unsafe or worthless, if a consumer is unable to choose on an informed basis, then his dollar is wasted, his health and safety may be threatened and national interest suffers.” [2]

Diagram 1: Components of Consumer’s Rights to Product Safety

Since then, product safety has gained international recognition as a prominent issue of consumer protection policy. The consumer right to safety in relation to products means that the products offered or sold to consumer must be safe for their intended use, must include detailed and clear directions for their proper use and must be tested by the manufacturer to ensure product quality and reliability[3]. The consumers must be protected from products that could endanger them in any manner and must be one of the priority areas that should be attended by every country.

Various organisations have directed their attentions and efforts in addressing the product safety issues. Since 1930’s, the consumer movements at international level have been addressing these issues through their product testing to identify the dangers associated with the products. Organisation for Economics, Cooperation and Development (OECD) have also made product safety their main attention since its inception in 1960. Their efforts in product safety were demonstrated in the establishment of Consumer Policy Committee to facilitate information exchange in product safety, and in 1972, OECD formed the Working Party on Product Safety[4].

The United Nations also plays a pivotal role in providing a guideline for its member states to ensure product safety is prioritised. In 1982, it passed a resolution on the Protection against Products Harmful to Health and the Environment. Following that, a Guidelines for Consumer Protection was issued in 1985. As set out in the guidelines, one of the legitimate requirements that they are intended to meet is the protection of consumers from hazards to their health and safety in particular Section 7.B on physical safety and section 7.D on standards for the safety and quality of consumer goods and services. This is currently the only internationally agreed legal instrument that addresses product safety. Despite their non-binding nature, the guidelines have been widely implemented by Member States[5]. The significant contribution of the United Nations can be seen in its issue of the Consolidated List of Products Whose Consumption and/or Sale Have Been Banned, Withdrawn, Severely Restricted or Not Approved by Governments. This list was part of the United Nations’ effort to disseminate information at the international level relating to unsafe products to health and environment.

Furthermore, various networks have also been established internationally to tackle the product safety issues. In Malaysia, the non-governmental organisation such as Malaysia Association of Standard Users and Consumer Association of Penang have been playing a leading role in creating awareness among the public on the product safety issues apart from being vocal in highlighting cases of dangerous products. In addition, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and consumer Affairs established a Malaysia Consumer Product Safety System where a website is developed to help businesses and consumers obtain information regarding consumer product safety in particular for goods and services under the purview of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affair. It allows users to access the services provided for compliance to mandatory standards as governed by the Ministry. Based on the information on the website, there are 478, 814 products registered with the Ministry, 25 products have been recalled due to safety reasons and only 1 product has been banned so far. [6]

In May 2018, the Consumers International conducted a survey of 132 organisations in 100 countries on product safety. Among the pertinent findings of the survey were 84% of respondents informed that there is consumer protection legislation in their country; 47% claim to have a national policy on consumer protection; 27% informed that their countries’ have a strategic plan on consumer protection; however, only 13% of respondents think that their national product safety legislation operates successfully. Among gaps in legislations highlighted by the respondents are lacking of clear definition on safe product, absence of general safety provision in consumer protection law, vague rules and responsibilities with lacking information on liability and ineffective sanctions and penalties for non-compliance.[7] This led us to the question on the efficacy of the current Malaysia product safety legislation.

Legal Framework on Product Safety in Malaysia

Malaysian government has introduced legal measures to protect the consumers from unsafe products way before the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) was passed by the Parliament in 1999. There were other legislations which were enacted to regulate product safety in various goods, and these legislations are still in force. The enactment of Consumer Protection Act 1999 brought further significant changes to the compliance of product safety standards.

The relevant laws which also dealt with the safety of specific products are:

1. Poison Act 1952

The purpose of the Act is to regulate the importation, possession, manufacture, compounding, storage, transport, sale and use of poisons. Several regulations were promulgated under this Act to ensure the compliance to the acceptable standards of quality, safety and reliability of the products during the manufacturing, importation, transportation and storage of the products until they are delivered to the end users.[8]

2. Sale of Drugs Act 1952

The purpose of the Act is to control and make regulations on the importation, exportation, production, sale and use of opium and other dangerous drugs. The enforcement of the Act was vested on the Drug Control Authority (DCA) which was established under the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984. The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (NPRA) was the Secretariat to the DCA. The main roles of NPRA are registration of pharmaceutical products and cosmetics; issuance of license of premises for importer, manufacturer and wholesaler; monitoring the quality of registered products in the market and monitoring adverse drug reaction.[9]

3. Medicine (Sale and Advertisement) Act 1956

This Act is an act that forecloses advertising related to medical matters and regulates the sale of substances recommended as medicine. Medicine Advertisement Board was established under the Medicine Advertisements Board Regulations 1976 for the approval of advertisements in relation to medicine.[10]

4. Pesticides Act 1974

The Act covers the management of all pesticides and other chemicals used in agriculture. The Pesticides Board is set up to implement the Act under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture.[11]

5. Food Act 1983

It aims to protect the public against food related hazards and frauds, as well as to promote and motivate the preparation, handling, distribution, sale and consumption of safe and high-quality food. Food Regulation 1985 was enacted under the Act. The Food Safety and Quality Division (FSQD) of the Ministry of Health (MOH) is charged with the implementation and enforcement of the law.[12]

6. Standards of Malaysia Act 1996

To formulate policies, programs, scheme, projects and activities on standardization. The Act codifies provisions related to standards, including the establishment of the Standards and Accreditation Council and its functions to promote the use of standards. It also promotes engagement in voluntary standards formulation, testing, certification and accreditation. The Act also governs the issuance of accreditation and registration certifications in relation to a conformity assessment for organisations, laboratories for testing or calibration, training organisations for conformity assessment and to persons qualified to perform conformity assessments and related services.[13]

7. Trade Descriptions Act 2011

An Act for the purpose of promoting good trade practices by prohibiting false trade descriptions and false or misleading statements, conduct and practices in relation to the supply of goods and services and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.[14]

Although, there are various laws that aim to ensure the safety of certain products such as foods, medicines, poisons and cosmetics but those laws are not consumer-oriented legislations. There was no comprehensive and specific law that underscore the consumer rights to product safety until consumer protection law was passed in 1999. Consumer protection legislation has been developed to minimize preventable accident due to the defect or failure of products. Product safety provisions aim at avoiding dangerous products from being marketed and sold to the consumer without going through certain testing and standard compliance processes as well as making the manufacturers responsible to ensure that their products are safe. As part of the product development, it is also very important to inform the consumers about the instructions for use and the warning associated with the products, as well as to pay attention to the product’s packaging. Also important is the product monitoring system after they are sold on the market[15].

8. Product Safety Provisions in Consumer Protection Act 1999

The Consumer Protection Act 1999 came into force on 15 November 1999 and placed under the jurisdiction of the then Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism. Now the Ministry is known as the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs. The purpose of the Act is to provide for the protection of consumers, the establishment of the National Consumer Advisory Council and the Tribunal for Consumer Claims. In relation to products safety, it is codified in Part III of the Act. Section 19(6) of the Act limits the application of Part III, which does not apply to healthcare goods and food. Nevertheless, it applies to imported goods as provided in section 24 of the Consumer Protection Act 1999.

The Act has brought certain important changes in product safety, such as entrusting the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs with the power and authority to monitor product safety and impose safety standards for goods and services. In relation to the monitoring power vested to the Ministry, the monitoring is done at two stages, namely, at pre-marketing stage and at marketing stage[16].

i) Setting standards for goods and services

Monitoring at premarketing stage can be seen in section 19(1), which empowers the Ministry to prescribe safety standards for goods or class of goods. The provision provides that:

19(1) The Minister may by regulations prescribe the safety standards in respect of—

(a) any goods or class of goods; and

(b) any services or class of services,

and may prescribe different safety standards for different goods or services, or classes of goods or services.

The purpose of prescribing safety standards is to prevent risks of injury. Since then, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs had utilised the power given in section 19(1) by prescribing several regulations as follows:

Table 1: Product Safety Regulations enacted under the Consumer Protection Act 1999.

No.	Regulations	Descriptions
1.	Consumer Protection (Safety Standards for Toys) Regulations 2009.[1]   v  First amendment in 2010 v  Second amendment in 2016	The main objective of these regulations come into force is to ensure that the toys supplied in Malaysian market is safe and to minimize potential hazards associated with toys resulting from their use in their intended play modes (normal use) as well as unintended play modes (reasonably foreseeable abuse). Children's are categorized as vulnerable group and they may be exposed to the usage of toys that are unsafe and could cause harm to them. The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs also issued the Guideline on Mandatory Standards for Toys 2010 to assist the industry to understand the main features of the legislations and the requirements in order to confirm to the prescribed safety standards.
2.	Consumer Protection (Certificate of Conformance and Conformity Mark of Safety Standards) Regulations 2010[2]   v  First amendment in 2013 v  Second amendment in 2016	This regulation makes it mandatory for a product owner to ensure that their goods are tested by an accredited laboratory, issued with certificate of conformance (COC) and affixed with conformity mark before the goods can be supplied, offered, advertised or imported.
3.	Consumer Protection (Safety Standards for Primary Batteries) Regulations 2013[3]	The purpose of the regulation is to set a standard to be complied by the businesses that supply non-rechargeable batteries which provides a source of electrical energy by direct conversion of chemical energy.

Apart from the regulations enacted under the CPA 1999, the Ministry had also developed several guidelines as a guidance to the industries in complying with the specified standards, among others:

• Guideline on Mandatory Standards for Toys 2010
• Guideline on the Compliance of Safety Standards for Secondary Batteries 2018
• Guideline on the Production, Distribution and Retail Activities of Non-Nicotine Electronic Cigarette and its Liquids 2018
• Guideline on the Compliance of New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN NCAP) Labelling 2019
• Guideline on the Compliance of Standard for Vehicle Heat Barrier Film 2019[20]

When there is a safety standard determined by the Ministry, section 20 provides that no person shall supply, or offer to, or advertise for, supply any goods which do not comply with the safety standards determined under section 19(1). In the situation where no safety standard has been determined, section 19(4) provides that the person supplies or offers to supply the goods shall adopt and observe a reasonable standard of safety to be expected by a reasonable consumer, due regard being had to the nature of the goods concerned.

On the other hand, section 21 imposes general safety requirement for goods. It provides that, in addition and without prejudice to section 20, no person shall supply, or offer to or advertise for supply any goods which are not reasonably safe having regard to all the circumstances, including:

(a) the manner in which, and the purposes for which, the goods are being or will be marketed;

(b) the get-up of the goods;

(c) the use of any mark in relation to the goods; and

(d) instructions or warnings in respect of the keeping, use or consumption of the goods.

In addition, Section 21A provides a similar general safety requirement for services. The provision prescribed that no person shall supply, or offer to or advertise for supply, any services which are not reasonably safe having regard to all the circumstances, including;

(a) the nature of the service, and composition and mode of provision;

(b) its effect on human life and health, and property;

(c) the appearance, design, labelling, instructions for installation or use, warnings, instructions for disposal of the property relating to the service and other information provided by the service provider; and

(d) whether there are any categories of persons who may be at risk when using the service.

ii) Order on prohibited goods

On the other hand, monitoring at marketing stage is found in section 23(1), which empowers the Ministry to issue an order to declare unsafe goods as prohibited goods. The order made may require the supplier to take all or any of the following actions within the stipulated time:

(a) recall the prohibited goods;

(b) stop the supply of, or the offer to supply, the prohibited goods or prohibited services;

(c) stop the advertisement of the prohibited goods or prohibited services;

(d) disclose to the public any information relating to the characteristics of the prohibited goods or prohibited services which render them unsafe; the circumstances in which use of the prohibited goods or prohibited services are unsafe; and/or any other relevant matters;

(e) repair or replace the prohibited goods or prohibited services;

(f) refund to any person to whom the prohibited goods or prohibited services were supplied.

iii) Penalty for non-compliance

The penalty for contravening the provisions in Part III is provided in Part IV of the Consumer Protection Act 1999, particularly section 25. Section 25 provides that any person who contravenes Part II and III commits an offence. A corporate found guilty for the offence is liable to a fine up to RM250,000 for first offence and up to RM500,000 for subsequent offence. As for the individual found guilty for the offence, he or she is liable to a fine up to RM100,000 or imprisonment of up to three years or both and for subsequent offence, fine up to RM250,000 or imprisonment up to six years.

iv) Defence

While the punishment is quite harsh to the offender, nonetheless, the CPA also outlines ground of defence for those who were accused of violating Part III under Section 22 of the CPA. The manufacturer may defend himself from the prosecution if he is able to show that the alleged failure of products was due to the compliance with a requirement imposed under any written law; or he is able to show that he has fulfil all the product safety requirements under the Act but the failure still occurred due to their failure to do more than what is required by law.

For other than manufacturer in the supply chain, the Act provides a defence from the charge if he is able to show that at the time he supplied, or offered or agreed to supply, or exposed or possessed for supply, the goods or services, he had no knowledge; and had no reasonable ground to believe, that the goods or services failed to comply with the requirements of section 20 or 21, or both of the Act.

Discussion on weaknesses in Malaysia’s product safety legislation

Though Malaysia has a very comprehensive consumer protection legislation which include provision on product safety, but there are always rooms for improvement. The following are some of the weaknesses of the current law in comparison with the consumer protection laws in other countries:

1. Exemption of services provided by Professionals from CPA

Section 2(2) of CPA provides the exclusion of several products and services from the jurisdiction of the Act and one of the excluded services is services provided by professionals who are regulated by any written law. The term ‘professionals’ is not defined under the CPA and therefore open to the interpretation of the Court. As in the case of Tenby World Sdn Bhd v Soh Chong Wan & Anor [2013] 10 CLJ 822, the learned judge concluded that the private schools are exempted from the Act under Section 2(2)(e) of the Act as it is required to be registered under and governed by the Education Act 1996[21]. Therefore, such provision hinders the Malaysian consumers from filing a claim against the provider of education services at the Tribunal for Consumer Claim should the education provided is somehow deficient, or even results in the student suffering an injury.

In Australia, the definition of consumer under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) includes students and that their education is provided by universities or schools "in trade or commerce". ACL imposes on such educational providers a guarantee of due care and skill in the provision of their services, to the benefit of consumers of those services. Section 60 of the ACL provides:

If a person supplies, in trade or commerce, services to a consumer, there is a guarantee that services will be rendered with due care and skill.

As such, the students have the option either to claim using the tort of negligence or under ACL where a person may sue a school seeking compensation for an injury incurred during the rendering of the educational services.[22]

2. The effectiveness of regulatory body

In Malaysia, the power to monitor and enforce the product safety legislation under CPA is given to the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs. However, the Ministry has two different functions namely to take care of the affairs of domestic businesses and the consumers. At present, the Ministry has not established a specific department to undertake the consumer protection function, moreover on ensuring effective implementation of product safety legislation. The CPA also establishes a National Consumer Advisory Council (NCAC) under Section 73, with the function to advise the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs in respect of consumer issues and the operation of CPA; the promotion of consumer protection and awareness in consumer affairs; and any other matter which may be referred to it by the Minister for the proper and effective implementation of the CPA and for the protection of consumers. However, the NCAC has yet to be seen effective in protecting the consumers in Malaysia, probably due to its limited function without any executive power.

This is different in the United States, where it has a specific law namely Consumer Product Safety Act 1972 which regulates the product safety and established an independent body namely Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), defines CPSC's basic authority and authorizes the agency to develop standards and bans. The Act particularly specifies the functions of CPSC to

• protect the public against unreasonable risks of injury associated with consumer products;
• assist consumers in evaluating the comparative safety of consumer products;
• develop uniform safety standards for consumer products and to minimize conflicting State and local regulations;
• promote research and investigation into the causes and prevention of product-related deaths, illnesses, and injuries[23].

The CPSC was further empowered through the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act 2008 (CPSIA). This landmark consumer product safety law amended CPSA in 2008 and provided CPSC with significant new regulatory and enforcement tools as part of amending and enhancing several CPSC statutes, including the Consumer Product Safety Act. The CPSIA included provisions addressing, among other things, lead, phthalates, toy safety, durable infant or toddler products, third-party testing and certification, tracking labels, imports, civil and criminal penalties and SaferProducts.gov, a publicly-searchable database of reports of harm. The CPSIA also repealed a challenging agency funding limitation and increased the number of authorized CPSC commissioners from three to five.[24]

Therefore, to have a stronger and more independent agency in protecting the consumers from dangerous products would be the hope of the Malaysian consumers.

3. The exclusion of healthcare goods and food from CPA scope

As explained earlier, Section 19 (6) of CPA limits the application of Part III. The most critical and high-risk products namely healthcare goods and foods are excluded from the protection of Part III of CPA. It was strange that the provision only specifies those two products whereas there are other consumer products which has specific laws that regulate them such as pesticide and cosmetics but were not expressly excluded from Part III of CPA. While the purpose of limiting the CPA on those two goods is understandably to avoid conflict of laws and jurisdiction of agencies, nonetheless, the exclusion clause legally limits the capacity for the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs to collaborate formally with other regulators.[25]

In the US, the CSPA covers broad definition of consumer products except what is excluded under Section 3(5) of CSPA that includes tobacco and tobacco products; motor vehicles; pesticides; firearms; aircrafts; boats; food; and drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics. Generally, these products are regulated primarily by other federal agencies, and thus likely excluded from the CPSC’s jurisdiction to avoid duplicative regulation.[26]

4. Obligation on supplier/producer to report to the regulator of any product failure

The CPA is also lacking of specific provision which obligate the supplier/manufacturer to report to the authority if they themselves find any defect on the product. The CPA only specifies the power of the Ministry to issue notice to the supplier for unsafe products under Section 23.

In this regard, the General Product Safety Regulation 2005 (GPSR) was enacted under the United Kingdom Consumer Protection Act 1987. Rule 9(1) of GPSR stipulates that:

Obligations of producers and distributors

9. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), where a producer or a distributor knows that a product he has placed on the market or supplied poses risks to the consumer that are incompatible with the general safety requirement, he shall forthwith notify an enforcement authority in writing of that information….

CPSC also has mandatory risk-based and incident-based reporting requirements. Section 15 of CPSA requires companies to report products that are defective, pose harm or fail to comply with safety standards, and Section 102 of Child Safety Protection Act requires companies to report choking incidents involving children. Companies must report these issues to CPSC’s Office of Compliance and Field Operations within 24 hours of receiving reportable information.[27]

One of the recommendations proposed in the Project on Strengthening Technical Competency for Consumer Protection in ASEAN was that to require suppliers to notify the authority about serious product related accidents or risks. This would capture information also about products which have not yet even been subjected to a voluntary recall. A compromise approach would be to make such accident reports fully or partly confidential to the national.[28]

5. The product safety provision does not obligate online marketplace operator.

The new threat for product safety is the selling of unsafe products on online marketplace. Initially, online commercial transactions were not covered by the Consumer Protection Act 1999 (CPA). However, the CPA was amended in 2007 whereby Section 2(2)(g) of the CPA which expressly stated that the Act would not apply “to any trade transactions affected by electronic means unless otherwise prescribed by the Minister” was removed and Section 2(1) was inserted with “any trade transactions conducted through electronic means”[29]. Subsequently, the Consumer Protection (Electronic Trade Transactions) Regulations 2012 was introduced to regulate the online traders and marketplace operator. The online marketplace operators, such as Shopee, Lazada, Amazon.com etcetera, are required under Regulation 5 of CPA to keep and maintain a record of the names, telephone numbers and the address of the person who supplies goods and services in their online marketplace, for a period of 2 years. The online businesses and marketplace operators who are not complying with the regulation are liable under Section 145 of CPA, to a fine not more than RM50,000 or 3 years imprisonment or both for individual and a fine of not more than RM100,000 for a corporate entity. However, the CPA does not obligate the online marketplace to ensure that the products offered on their platform fulfilled the safety standards. The situation can also be complicated because the sellers and producers are often based outside Malaysia, and in some cases, the marketplace can be too.

As part of its efforts to ensure the products offered to the European Union (EU) consumers through online platform are safe, the EU Commission reached an agreement with the four major online marketplace operators namely Alibaba, Amazon, eBay and Rakuten to sign a Product Safety Pledge in 2018. Under the pledge, the four major online companies commit to remove dangerous products from their online platform by responding to notifications on dangerous products from Member State authorities within 2 working days and take action on notices from customers within 5 working days.[30]

The absence of a provision in the Malaysia consumer protection law to compel the online marketplace operator to be responsible to the products marketed on their online platform would expose the Malaysian consumers to dangerous products. Thus, it is recommended that the coverage of CPA on online shopping is extended to product safety issue.

Table 2: Summary of discussion on weaknesses in CPA in relation to product safety regulation and comparison with other countries

Subject of weaknesses	Consumer Protection Act 1999	Consumer laws in other countries
Exemption of services provided by Professionals from CPA	S. 2(2) of CPA excludes services provided by professionals who are regulated by any written law from the Act. No definition of professional in the CPA , therefore, in Tenby World Sdn Bhd v Soh Chong Wan & Anor [2013] 10 CLJ 822, the judge exempted private school from the Act.	Australian Consumer Law (ACL) includes students as consumer and that their education is provided by universities or schools "in trade or commerce". S. 60 ACL imposes on such educational providers a guarantee of due care and skill in the provision of their services.
The effectiveness of regulatory body	The CPA does not establish an enforcement body.	In US, a CPSC is established under the Consumer Product Safety Commission Act.
The exclusion of healthcare goods and food from CPA scope	Healthcare goods and foods which are the most critical product and services are specifically exclude from the protection of Part III of CPA. No reasonable justification as pesticide and cosmetic are not expressly excluded.	In the US, the CSPA covers broad definition of consumer products except what is excluded under Section 3(5) of CSPA to avoid duplicative regulation.
Obligation on supplier/producer to report to the regulator of any product failure	No provision on this in CPA	Rule 9(1) of UK General Product Safety Regulation 2005 (GPSR) has the provision. In US, Section 15 of CPSA
The product safety provision does not obligate online marketplace operator	The Consumer Protection (Electronic Trade Transactions) Regulations 2012 does not include obligation pertains to product safety.	EU initiated Product Safety Pledge in 2018 with online marketplace to hold them accountable pertains to product safety.

Conclusion

A comprehensive product safety legislation is important to ensure that the consumers are not exposed to dangerous products and services. From the discussion, some improvement could be made to the CPA to enhance the protection for consumers from the unsafe products. The selling of products through online marketplace is another issue that need to be addressed in this globalized world. Apart from monitoring and enforcement, education to the consumer is pivotal to ensure that the consumer is equipped with knowledge on product safety when making decision on buying products or services.

Reference

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Bara Fintel, Athena T. Samaras & Edson Carias, The Thalidomide Tragedy: Lessons For Drug Safety And Regulation, Jul 28, 2009, <https://helix.northwestern.edu/article/thalidomide-tragedy-lessons-drug-safety-and-regulation> accessed January 16, 2021.

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[1] Bara Fintel, Athena T. Samaras & Edson Carias, The Thalidomide Tragedy: Lessons For Drug Safety And Regulation, Jul 28, 2009, <https://helix.northwestern.edu/article/thalidomide-tragedy-lessons-drug-safety-and-regulation> accessed January 16, 2021.

[2] John F. Kennedy, Special Message to the Congress on Protecting the Consumer Interest, March 15, 1962, <https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/special-message-the-congress-protecting-the-consumer-interest> accessed on January 16, 2021.

[3] Rahmah Ismail, Sakina Shaik Ahmad Yusoff, Shamsuddin Suhor, Azimon Azimon Aziz, Muhammad Rizal Razman and Kartini Aboo Talib, Consumer Right to Safe Product: The Application of Strict Criminal Liability in Product Safety Legislations in Malaysia, 2012, Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 20 (S): 57 – 72.

[4] Mandate of the OECD Working Party on Consumer Product Safety, http://www.oecd.org/sti/consumer/working-party-on-consumer-product-safety.htm> accessed on January, 19 2021.

[5] United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, United Nation Guidelines for Consumer Protection, 2016, <https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ditccplpmisc2016d1_en.pdf> accessed on January 16, 2021.

[6] Mysafe website, <https://mysafe.kpdnhep.gov.my/> accesed on January 19, 2021.

[7] Consumers International, The challenge of protecting consumers from unsafe products: A global picture, May 2018, <https://www.consumersinternational.org/media/155104/productsafetyreport-full.pdf> accessed on January 16, 2021.

[8] Poison Act 1952, <https://www.pharmacy.gov.my/v2/en/system/files/poisons-act-1952-act-366.pdf> accessed on January 19, 2021.

[9] Sale of Drugs Act 1952, <https://www.pharmacy.gov.my/v2/sites/default/files/document-upload/sales-drug-act-1952-act-368.pdf> accessed on January 19, 2021.

[10] Medicine (Sale and Advertisement) Act 1956, <https://www.pharmacy.gov.my/v2/sites/default/files/document-upload/medicine-advertisement-sale-act-1956-act-290_1.pdf> accessed on January 19, 2021.

[11] Pesticides Act 1974, <http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/Publications/LOM/EN/Act%20149%20-%20Pesticides%20Act%201974.pdf> accessed on January 19, 2021.

[12] Food Act 1983, <http://fsis2.moh.gov.my/fosimtestsite/HOM/frmHOMFARSec.aspx?id=21> accessed on January 19, 2021.

[13] Standard of Malaysia Act 1996, <http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/Publications/LOM/EN/Act%20549%20-%20Standards%20of%20Malaysia%20Act%201996.pdf> accessed on January 19, 2021.

[14] Trade Description Act 2011, < http://www.agc.gov.my/agcportal/uploads/files/Publications/LOM/EN/Draf%20bersih%20PPPUU%20Act%20730%20Lulus%20BI.doc.pdf> accessed on January 19, 2021.

[15] Zalina Zakaria, ‘Consumer Rights to Safe Products: Some Discussions on the Important Characteristics of the Theoretical Aspects of Regulation’, The Law Review 2014, pp. 115-126, <https://umexpert.um.edu.my/public_view.php?type=publication&row=MzM1NjU%3D> accessed on January 10, 2021.

[16] Note 3 at p. 70.

[17] Consumer Protection (Safety Standards for Toys) Regulations 2009, <https://mysafe.kpdnhep.gov.my/img/portal/consumer-safety/P.U.%20A%20275BI.pdf> accessed on January 19, 2021.

[18] Consumer Protection (Certificate of Conformance and Conformity Mark of Safety Standards) Regulations 2010, < https://mysafe.kpdnhep.gov.my/img/portal/consumer-safety/P.U253BI.pdf> accessed on January 19, 2021.

[19] Consumer Protection (Safety Standards for Primary Batteries) Regulations 2013, < https://mysafe.kpdnhep.gov.my/img/portal/consumer-safety/P_U__A_276_-_Consumer_Protection_Safety_Standards_for_Primary_Batteries_Regulations_2013.pdf> accessed on January 16, 2021.

[20] Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, ‘Malaysian Framework for Product Safety and Recall’, p. 11,<http://www.standards.gov.my/documents/10180/3351500/FRAMEWORK+FOR++PRODUCT+SAFETY+AND+RECALL+MALAYSIA.pdf/0406c399-ce49-484e-8de5-4a85cec10624> accessed on January 19, 2021.

[21] It is noteworthy, however, in the case of Fairview International School Subang Sdn Bhd v Tribunal Tuntutan Pengguna Malaysia & Anor [2015] 9 MLJ 581, the learned judge differed from the previous decision on the following grounds:

• The teachers who are registered under the Education Act do not regulate themselves but subject only to registration by the Ministry of Education.
• The Act considers that these professionals must necessarily be directly engaged in a contract for service with the consumer. The registered teachers are hired under a contract of service with the school that in turn contracted with the consumer.

Section 2(2)(f) of the Act specifies that :

“This Act shall not apply to healthcare services provided or to be provided by healthcare professionals or healthcare facilities”

If the educational facilities are exempted from the Act, there would be similar provision on it, if that was so intended by Parliament. Thus, the Parliament must have desired not to exclude educational facilities by necessary implication on the purposive interpretation of the statute.

[22] Stephen Corones, ‘Consumer Guarantees and The Supply of Educational Services by Higher Education Providers’, 2012, UNSW Law Journal Volume 35(1), <http://www.unswlawjournal.unsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/35-1-16.pdf> accessed on 29 January 2021.

[23] David H. Carpenter, ‘The Consumer Product Safety Act: A Legal Analysis’, April 24, 2018, p.6, <https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45174.pdf> accessed on January 5, 2021.

[24] The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), <https://www.cpsc.gov/Regulations-Laws--Standards/Statutes/The-Consumer-Product-Safety-Improvement-Act> accessed on January 15, 2021.

[25] Project on Strengthening Technical Competency for Consumer Protection in ASEAN, “Product Safety and Labelling”, 2015, p. 69, <http://aadcp2.org/wp-content/uploads/Product-Safety-Labelling-Module-Final-21Dec15.pdf> accessed on January 19, 2021.

[26] Note 21 at p. 69.

[27] Sean P. Fahey, ‘Product Liability and Safety Law and Practice in USA’, <https://practiceguides.chambers.com/practice-guides/comparison/496/5281/8426-8427-8428 > accessed on January 10, 2021.

[28] Note 20 at p. 43.

[29] Amin, Naemah & Mohd Nor, Roshazlizawati, “Online shopping in Malaysia: Legal Protection for E-consumers”, European Journal of Business and Management, 2013, p. 79.

[30] European Commission and online marketplaces sign a Product Safety Pledge to remove dangerous Products, June 25, 2018 <https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_18_4247> accessed January 19, 2021