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Mercantile Laws – II

Notes years or so; the impetus being the publication of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair in which the
author described his disgust at the meat packing industry in Chicago. Horrified, President
Theodore Roosevelt had these allegations verified independently by federal agents, who
confirmed the distressful conditions of the meat that American consumers ate.
Soon afterwards in 1906, the US Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act which, along with
the Sherly Amendment, curbs sellers from selling adulterated food/drugs and places guidelines
on the accuracy of the data on labels. Together with the Meat Inspection Act, the government had
ensured a legal framework to prosecute anyone who would willfully violate the quality of the
food and medicines used by the consumers.

Other landmarks in the consumer protection movement were the establishment of the Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) in 1914 and the establishment of the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) in 1931. This was closely followed by the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 which
enabled the FDA to test new drugs before they reached the hands of the consumers.
In the mid twentieth century, the two stalwart figures in the consumer protection movement
were Ralph Nader and John F Kennedy. In a historic speech in 1962, Kennedy was the first one
to define the basic consumer rights as they are still used today. A milestone in the consumer
protection movement came with the publishing of Ralph Nader’s book ‘Unsafe at Any Speed’ in
1967. Leading to the enactment of The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, this
book was the first attempt by a common citizen to exercise his consumer rights against the big
corporate sharks.

Kennedy introduced the Consumer Bill of Rights in 1962 in the US Congress. This was closely
followed by several bills legislations such as the Cigarette Labeling Act (1965), the Fair Packaging
and Labeling Act (1966), and the Wholesome Meat Act (1967) and the establishment of the
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in 1972.
In India, as always the laws reach late. Obviously, the Indian politicians could not hold on any
longer protecting their business patrons against public outcries of corporate fraud, deceit and
callousness in general. So in December 1986, the Consumer Protection Act was reluctantly
passed by the Indian Government to protect the consumers.
Independently if reviewed, the Consumer Protection Act 1986 has all the mistakes that the
developed economies made with their consumer legislations over 25-50 years ago. One would
assume that the Indian politicians would use their wisdom to not repeat the mistakes that have
already been made by others, but then again, loopholes in the law means more protection for
the corporate sharks. So willfully some “mistakes” may have been introduced.
The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is at best a mediocre attempt at consumer protection.
Nevertheless, better none than one when it comes to laws in India! It lacks teeth in several areas
including safety, product labeling, execution of the law, and punishment of the violators of the
law. Sadly, violators of consumer rights still enjoy absolute freedom in India to disregard safety
and quality when it comes to consumer products despite this law. You may read more about the
Consumer Protection Act, 1986 here.
The need to ensure the basic rights to health, safety, etc. of consumers have long been recognised
the world over and various general legislations were enacted in India and abroad in this direction.
In India, the general enactments other than the law of torts which ultimately aimed at protection
of consumers interests are the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the Sale of Goods Act, 1930, the Dangerous
Drugs Act, 1930, the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act, 1937, the Drugs and
Cosmetics Act, 1940, the Indian Standards Institution (Certification Marks) Act, 1952, the
Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954, the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable
Advertisements) Act, 1954, the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, the Standards of Weights and
Measures Act, 1976, the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958, (Now Trade Marks Act, 1999),

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