ENG-2004 — Page 181

Commerce and Industry | 147

consumer

complaints and 120 797

consumer enquiries were received. Telecommunications services continued to top the list of consumer complaints.

The council also promotes consumer interests through conducting research, disseminating information and tendering advice on trade practices and competition- related issues. During the year the council made submissions in response to public consultation papers and examined a number of matters that raised concerns over fair competition or undesirable market behaviour. It produced a report on the bundling of telecommunications service charges with building management fees, and initiated the establishment of a task force to formulate a code of practice for the beauty industry to enhance self-regulation and strengthen consumer confidence. The council's chief executive is a member of the Competition Policy Advisory Group.

The council is in daily contact with the media on all matters of consumer interest and concern. Its monthly magazine, CHOICE, regularly publishes findings of comparative product tests and service surveys providing useful and practical information, advice and viewpoints to the public. An online version of CHOICE was launched in January 2004. The magazine's reach extends far beyond its average monthly circulation of 32 500, penetrating virtually all sectors of the community through extensive media coverage. The Consumer Rights Reporting Awards 2004 continued to attract entries of high quality from journalists in all sectors of the media. The award presentation ceremony of this annual event was held on World Consumer Rights Day, which falls on March 15 every year.

The fifth Consumer Culture Study Award organised during the year encouraged secondary school students to conduct their own studies of the local consumer culture. Some 543 teams, comprising 3 300 students from 102 secondary schools, participated in this programme.

The Consumer Council, commissioned by the Education and Manpower Bureau, has launched a web-based Teacher's Development Course on consumer education. Within a year, three batches of 195 teachers have enrolled in the training course.

The Consumer Legal Action Fund aims to give greater consumer access to legal remedies and to provide legal assistance to consumers with meritorious cases. The fund, with the council as its trustee, is administered by a board of administrators underpinned by a management committee with members appointed by the Government. Since its establishment in 1994, the fund has considered 64 groups of cases, with the number of applicants in each case ranging from one to more than 800.

In networking, the council is an executive and council member of Consumers International (CI), of which its chief executive is a former president. Cl is a federation of 250 consumer organisations in 115 countries dedicated to the protection and promotion of consumer interests. The council also maintains regular contacts with its. counterparts overseas and in the Mainland.