1,030 shops have passed the annual assessment of the “Certified Shop” mechanism of the Consumer Council and are awarded the 2020 “Certified Shop” emblem, 28 of them are classified as Class A “Certified Shops”. The Consumer Council held the 2019 Class A “Certified Shop” Award Ceremony on 3rd December to announce the list, shops that meet the requirements of both “Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme” and “Certified Shop” mechanism were also awarded the “Star Merchant Award”, both the Consumer Council and Macao Government Tourism Office believe this cooperation has achieved its greatest synergy effect in strengthening the protection of consumer rights and in enhancing the service culture of local tourism retail service.

800 shops graded “Very Good” to “Excellent”

Ms. Ho Pui Fan, President of the General Committee of the Consumer Council, thanked all industries for their support in the “Certified Shop” mechanism so that it could be implemented effectively for nearly 20 years. The “Certified Shop” brand has become a measure in protecting consumer rights in Macao and an essential element in building a shopping environment with honesty and integrity, “Certified Shops” merchants also give back to the society with practical actions in which about 80 percent of “Certified Shops” achieved the grading of “Very Good” to “Excellent” this year. Ho encouraged “Certified Shops” to be better equipped and serve with better retail service in the development of Macao into a World Center of Tourism and Leisure, as well as in development strategies such as the cooperation between cities in the Greater Bay Area.

Residents’ experience added to evaluation

To ensure the quality of “Certified Shops”, all shops participating in the mechanism are monitored by the Council, promise to resolve any consumer dispute that arises between them and consumers, and should possess a passing grade in the annual on-site evaluation which consists of 85 grading criteria. The Council completed 3500 times of on-site evaluation in 2019 and invited local residents to grade their experiences in almost 400 shops for the first time, experts were also invited to shop as mystery shoppers to offer 205 shopping experience reports. A total of over 4,000 times of different kinds of evaluation have been carried out throughout the whole year.

Rigorous assessment to enhance confidence

The Council indicates that through the dynamic and professional monitoring mentioned above, rigorous evaluation standards, as well as trainings offered to “Certified Shops”, participating shops in the mechanism have reached a better standard in many aspects. The Council emphasizes that quality of the “Certified Shop” team is guaranteed by a rigorous and scientific assessment mechanism to encourage confidence of consumers in “Certified Shops”. About 15 percent of shops (210 shops) evaluated in 2019 did not pass the annual assessment.

The annual assessment result of “Certified Shop” will be available on the Consumer Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo) for consumers’ reference, a promotional brochure with all the information of Class A “Certified Shops” will also be printed later to raise competitiveness among “Certified Shops”.

166 shops awarded “Star Merchant Award” by MGTO

High quality retail service is essential to the flourishing of local tourism and in building a world-class city of tourism and leisure, to encourage and support the industry to enhance their service culture, the Consumer Council and MGTO work together to present the “Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme x Certified Shop” project. All merchants in retail industries like clothing and apparel, ornaments, tourism, souvenirs (food products), and food and beverage, etc. with grading of A- and above are approved by the Jury Committee of the “Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme” and awarded “Star Merchant Award” with the qualified certificate and emblem. Shops that are classified as 2019 Class A “Certified Shop” and qualified for “Star Merchant Award” were awarded certificate by Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of MGTO, at the annual ceremony.

Other guests and participants at the ceremony included: Mr. Chan Io Cha, Arbitration Judge of the Consumer Arbitration Centre, Mr. Tong Chi Chung, Hong Kong Consumer Council Deputy Chief Executive, Mr. Lin Yongli, Deputy Secretary-General of Zhongshan City Consumer Council, Mr. Xu Shipang, Deputy Secretary-General of Jiangmen Association for Consumers' Rights and Interests Protection, Mr. Cheng Wai Tong, Deputy Director of MGTO, Members of the Jury Committee of the “Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme”, representatives of various industry and commerce chambers, Consultants of the Consumer Arbitration Centre, and members of the General Committee of the Consumer Council.

(Attachment: list of 2019 Class A “Certified Shops”)