The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, which the government is in the final stages of drafting, will possibly be one of the more important EU consumer protection directives of recent years, Competitiveness and Communi-cations Minister Censu Galea told a seminar yesterday.

He was speaking at the Responsible Credit seminar, organised by the Consumer Affairs Council in conjunction with World Consumer Rights Day.

Consumer protection in Malta has come a long way, he said, not least because of the overall positive impact of the EU acquis on Maltese law. The Consumer Credit Regulations of 2005 were among the latest milestones in continued progression for putting in place a comprehensive legislative framework to protect consumers.

There would always be room for improvement, but it was fair to say that consumer protection had come a long way, said Mr Galea.