Obeidat said several Arab states which participated in the three-day First National Conference on Consumer Protection last week voted on the decision.

Delegates from the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, Palestine, Egypt, Morocco and Yemen elected Obeidat as head of the federation.

The conference, which ended on Saturday and was hosted by the society, urged Arab governments to draft laws in order to ensure consumer protection and consumer rights.

The meeting also called for adopting international consumer protection measures in all Arab countries.

Among other recommendations were activating the media's role in raising public awareness on consumer protection and promoting governmental cooperation with non-governmental organisations regarding the issue.

The conference, which aimed at discussing means of protecting the Arab consumer and guarding against dangers to life and health through interaction between member organisations, was held with the participation of 17 Arab countries and experts from the U.S., Germany and Sweden.

Jordan's consumer society was established in 1989 as a voluntary body to raise public awareness on consumer problems by conducting field and scientific studies and by fighting monopolies and price manipulation.

The society was the only organisation to file a case against the government over the recent water contamination crisis and the first to alert the public to the government's intention to lift bread subsidies in 1996.