Law No. (8) of (2008) regarding Consumer Protection (the
"Consumer Protection Law") was enacted in recognition of
the demand of unlucky recipients of unscrupulous merchants.
Previously protection had been granted under Law No. (2) of (1999)
on Combating Commercial Fraud. Traditionally, save for the 1999
law, consumers had, in the event of faults or malpractice, little
or no recourse against suppliers and, thus, advertisements
informing the consumer about products became inflated with
over-exaggerated descriptions. Other underhand practices also
appeared, such as the sale of defective or sub-standard goods,
misrepresentation of prices (influencing inflation) and negligence
over safety standards. It became necessary, therefore, to introduce
statutory measures to bring suppliers to the Qatar market into line
and to make them more accountable to their consumers. The 2008
Consumer Protection Law came at a time when other countries in the
GCC were also trying to tackle
