United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection

The United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection (UNGCP) are "a valuable set of principles for setting out the main characteristics of effective consumer protection legislation, enforcement institutions and redress systems and for assisting interested Member States in formulating and enforcing domestic and regional laws, rules and regulations that are suitable to their own economic and social and environmental circumstances, as well as promoting international enforcement cooperation among Member States and encouraging the sharing of experiences in consumer protection."

They were first adopted by the General Assembly in resolution 39/248 of 16 April 1985, later expanded by the Economic and Social Council in resolution E/1999/INF/2/Add.2 of 26 July 1999, and recently revised by the General Assembly in resolution 70/186 of 22 December 2015.

The Intergovernmental group of experts on consumer protection law and policy has been established to monitor the implementation of the guidelines, provide a forum for consultations, produce research and studies, provide technical assistance, undertake voluntary peer reviews, and periodically update the UNGCP. Its first meeting took place on 17 and 18 October 2016 in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

The UNGCP were adopted by consensus in 1985. This followed a long campaign by consumer associations in many countries, with Consumers International (then known as the International Organisation of Consumer Unions since its establishment in 1960 and granted general consultative status by the Economic & Social Committee in 1977) acting as interlocutor with the United Nations, having called upon the United Nations to prepare a ‘Model Code for consumer protection’ at its World congress in Sydney in 1975. This led, in 1977, to ECOSOC directing the Secretary-General to prepare a survey of national institutions and legislation in the area of consumer protection and in 1981, ECOSOC requested the SG ‘to continue consultations on consumer protection with a view to elaborating a set of general guidelines for consumer protection, taking particularly into account the needs of the developing countries’. Draft guidelines were circulated to governments for comments in 1982, submitted to ECOSOC in 1983, drawing on many sources including the OECD, the US Consumer Bill of Rights and materials from national consumer protection agencies and consumer associations.

In 1999, the UNGCP were expanded significantly to include a new section on sustainable consumption (Section H of the 2015 version).

In July 2012, the First Ad Hoc Expert Meeting on Consumer Protection decided that UNCTAD should begin a consultation process on the revision UNGCP. As a result of this consultation and call for contributions, the UNCTAD secretariat produced the Implementation Report on the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection (1985 - 2013).

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