UN GUIDELINES FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION The UN

Consumer Protection Justification The basic law on consumer protection, in most countries, is called the Consumer Protection Act.
This legislation deals with matters such as unfair trade practices, consumer contracts, product safety and compensation for injury and damage caused by unsafe products.
It establishes the powers of public authority in relation to consumer protection and sometimes creates a Consumer Protection Council comprising government, business and consumer representatives.
It will also establish the redress mechanisms consumers can use when they have problems with traders.<br>

All countries should have some form of legislation to provide a basic platform for consumer protection. Against the following<br>

Unethical Behaviour<br>

Unfair Trading<br>

To avoid such Governments should Set priorities for the protection of consumers. 
Taking into account the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection and relevant international agreements, each Government should set its own priorities for the protection of consumers in accordance with the economic, social and environmental circumstances of the country and the needs of its population, bearing in mind the costs and benefits of proposed measures<br>

In general, consumer laws should enshrine the following:<br>

Protect consumers from products or services which are dangerous or unsafe, or whose use might cause injury to others.
Require all necessary information to be given to consumers about the goods and services they acquire, especially in relation to therapeutic goods and toxic products.
Ensure that necessary information about goods and services is required to be accurate and comprehensible.
Provide consumers with cost-effective, speedy and accessible means to enforce their legal rights.
Establish procedures which ensure consumers are informed about their consumer rights, particularly consumers with special needs.<br>

Encourage the promotion of ethical and socially responsible practices by the producers and suppliers of goods and services.
Protect consumers from unethical, unconscionable, and illegal practices especially in the supply or provision of: health care; housing and accommodation; education; water; energy; financial services; employment; retirement services; children's services; insurance; investment services; and food.<br>

UN Guideline Process 1985 UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection first adopted
1999 Last revision of Guidelines
2012 (July) UN conference on competition & consumer protection: CI makes case for inclusion of financial services and privacy in text and access to basic goods and services in legitimate needs.
2013 (July) UN conference on 2015 revision
2013 (December) UN establishes four working groups (Financial services, E-commerce, Implementation, other issues) to draft the 2015 revisions.
2014-15 CI contributes to the 1st draft (Jan-May) and 2nd draft (Nov 14-Jan 15) of the revised guidelines and lobbies for improved consumer protection on all four working groups.
2015 (Feb) UN meeting in Geneva with UNCTAD
2015 Secretariat report presented to the 7th UN Review Conference. Following this the final revision of the guidelines are expected to be adopted by the General Assembly in 2016.<br>

Consumer Protection to electronic commerce Electronic Commerce will be included in the Guidelines for the first time. Although many aspects of electronic commerce are already included in the guidelines under general principles and specific provisions related, among others, to trade, commerce, contracts, the impact of this modality of electronic shopping and exchange of information is growing faster and has its own needs for specific regulation.<br>

CI has a clear position on the Guidelines developed with members and has published a separate 110-page publication titled Updating the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection for the Digital Age (http://www.consumersinternational.org/media/1353300/updating-ungcp.pdf) which details our proposals for new measures covering e-commerce and related areas of importance to consumers in the digital age. This publication can be consulted for further information.<br>

Consumers who participate in electronic commerce should be afforded transparent and effective consumer protection that is not less than the level of protection afforded in other forms of commerce.
Businesses engaged in electronic commerce with consumers should provide accurate, clear and easily accessible information about themselves, the goods or services offered, and the terms and conditions on which they are offered, to enable consumers to make an informed decision about whether to enter into the transaction.
To avoid ambiguity concerning the consumer’s intent to make a purchase, the consumer should be able, before concluding the purchase, to identify precisely the goods or services to be purchased; identify and correct any errors or modify the order; express an informed and deliberate consent to the purchase; and retain a complete and accurate record of the transaction.
Consumers should be provided with easy-to-use, secure payment mechanisms and information on the level of security such mechanisms afford.<br>

Digital content products should be offered on terms equivalent to those sold in other formats, unless the consumer is clearly informed that different terms apply. This includes the normal incidences of product ownership, such as permanent possession, privacy of use, the ability to gift or resell such goods together with all of the rights with which they were first sold, and the ability to lend or perform them within a family, household or similar limited circle. To the extent required to facilitate these uses of such works, and to allow the consumer to access them at a convenient time and place, governments should allow consumers to time, space and format shift digital content products, to make temporary copies of them, and to bypass technical protection measures applied to them. Hindrance of the exercise of these rights should be prohibited by law. Where possible, consumers should have the opportunity to try a digital content product before final purchase.<br>

Governments and industry should support, use and contribute to the development of open and interoperable standards for digital content products supplied to or hosted for consumers. Suppliers who provide a service to host such products online (other than a content streaming service) should also provide the means for consumers to extract them from online storage by that supplier, using open formats and protocols.
Governments, business and consumer representatives should work together to educate consumers about electronic commerce, to foster informed decision-making by consumers participating in electronic commerce, and to increase business and consumer awareness of the consumer protection framework that applies to their online activities. Governments and businesses should be further guided by the OECD Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce (2001).<br>

Consumer Protection to financial services Financial services will be included in the Guidelines for the first time. As financial services has extended its reach into consumers everyday lives, the sector, and consumers relationship with it, has grown and evolved, making it essential to establish the right level of protection for consumers. CI has a clear position on the Guidelines developed with members. This will be discussed further below.
Main Issues<br>

Remittances and the important role they play in improving lives in developing countries and the need to examine the fees charged by money transfer companies.
Stability: linking financial services to the issue of financial crises
Borrowing and credit including responsible lending
Savings and risk management
Bank deposit guarantees
Classification of consumers into different categories (such as the excluded, the distressed, or the bankrupt),<br>

Over-indebtedness
Mortgages and securities
Mobile payments and
Redress mechanisms
Other suggestions:
Information campaigns
Investigation of potential anti-competitive practices in bank rescue packages by governments
Lotto schemes (fraud and cheating)
Safe and unsafe financial products and their delivery to consumers through advertisements
Regulatory capture of government institutions by the financial companies
Tied services to mortgages, including life insurance requirement
Debit card limits to consumers set by retailers<br>

It should be noted that previous to the Geneva meeting UNCTAD stressed that there was consensus only on Financial Services and Electronic Commerce as themes to be dealt with in this revision. However, following the creation of the Other Issues working group there is a recognition that there is a need to engage in discussions to evaluate which, how and when these issues can be included or amended in the Guidelines. The list is as follows:<br>

Data Protection
Cross-Border Trade
Tourism
Collective proceedings and class actions
Integration with other government policies
Public and Universal Services
Energy
Transport and Real Estate
Access to knowledge
Abusive advertising<br>

Data Protection the treatment of data protection in the UNGCP cannot be accomplished simply through the e-commerce section, as the principles of privacy and data protection that are applicable online are equally applicable offline.<br>

Cross border trade Though it is stated as cross border trade in the UNCTAD’s list, it is thought to refer to cross border transactions, an area in which consumers are engaged more and more though electronic commerce and tourism. Nevertheless, CI’s proposal addresses some issues related to cross border trade in procedures and regulations should not become barriers to international trade.
CI propose strengthening consumer protection across borders giving e-commerce or tourism as examples. We draw attention to the need for cross-border dispute resolution mechanisms:<br>

Tourism As tourism is growing steadily around the world, CI’s proposal for amendment were inserted in: that declares that economic interests of tourists and visitors must be protected as well as residents. countries must ensure enforcement of consumer protection across borders when transactions were made by tourists.<br>

Collective redress proceedings Have an insertion that includes group actions when physical safety of products is recalled.
Also collective redress as one of the tools for consumer redress.<br>

Abusive advertising Focussing on addictive products such as tobacco and alcohol, and the advertising aimed at children in particular regarding unhealthy food.<br>

‘Other issues’ The list of other issues still leaves out some issues which we have raised. They include:
participation in cultural and educational affairs
many insertions to strengthen the language, or to refer to neglected dimensions such as disability or gender
the role of consumer organisations such as testing:
Social responsibility
Food wastage:
Competition<br>

Thank You<br>