National Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh asked the government to work harder on Tuesday, in developing national consumer standards, to protect Palestinians and improve the marketability of products globally.

Speaking in Nablus at the first conference for Palestinian consumer protection, Abu Libdeh accused the interior ministry and his own ministry of impeding a new project aimed at improving the labeling on Palestinian produce.

The minister said he hoped to create a network of 16 associations to guard consumer rights in Palestine, so that Palestinians could be made more aware of the specifications of products that enter the Palestinian market. Currently, he said, 88 percent of the local goods at market are not properly labeled.

Abu Libdeh revealed plans to establish a Palestinian trading standards and metrology institute in 2011, a move that would aid efforts to reactivate trade agreements with the Arab world and get more Palestinian products on the international market.

The announcement coincided with the end of the the Palestinian Authority's store-to-store campaign promoting the government-led boycott of settlement-produced goods.

Palestinian sources anticipated that the boycott will divert 200 million dollars per year to the Palestinian economy, advancing the PA’s plan to establish state-institutions by the summer of 2011.