Better protection for people buying things online in both developed and developing countries will be among the outcomes of revisions to United Nations guidelines agreed at a major UNCTAD conference in Geneva.
More than 350 competition specialists from 70 countries gathered from 6 to 10 July to review the so-called "United Nations Set" of mutually agreed competition and consumer protection policies.
UNCTAD's work on competition and consumer protection has long shown that these can play a direct and important role in promoting economic growth and reducing poverty in developing countries. Competition stimulates innovation, productivity and competitiveness, increases a country's attractiveness as a business location, triggering investment, and delivers benefits for consumers through lower prices, improved services and greater choice. Empowered consumers who know their rights and enforce them are subject to fewer abuses. This directly improves their welfare.
Last updated in 1999, the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection needed updating in a world of e-commerce and online shopping, and in other areas such as financial services, energy, public utilities, and tourism. With the update, member States agreed to put UNCTAD at the center of global consumer protection.
"If we want citizens to be active players in achieving sustainable development we need to empower them as consumers in the marketplace," said UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi. "I am delighted that member States have entrusted UNCTAD with becoming the privileged international forum for advancing consumer protection worldwide."
http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/broadband/online-consumers-to-be-better-protected-by-new-united-nations-guidelines-150711
More than 350 competition specialists from 70 countries gathered from 6 to 10 July to review the so-called "United Nations Set" of mutually agreed competition and consumer protection policies.
UNCTAD's work on competition and consumer protection has long shown that these can play a direct and important role in promoting economic growth and reducing poverty in developing countries. Competition stimulates innovation, productivity and competitiveness, increases a country's attractiveness as a business location, triggering investment, and delivers benefits for consumers through lower prices, improved services and greater choice. Empowered consumers who know their rights and enforce them are subject to fewer abuses. This directly improves their welfare.
Last updated in 1999, the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection needed updating in a world of e-commerce and online shopping, and in other areas such as financial services, energy, public utilities, and tourism. With the update, member States agreed to put UNCTAD at the center of global consumer protection.
"If we want citizens to be active players in achieving sustainable development we need to empower them as consumers in the marketplace," said UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi. "I am delighted that member States have entrusted UNCTAD with becoming the privileged international forum for advancing consumer protection worldwide."
http://www.indiantelevision.com/iworld/broadband/online-consumers-to-be-better-protected-by-new-united-nations-guidelines-150711
