About the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection

The United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection are a soft-law instrument which provide an influential standard for the dissemination of good practices in consumer protection, as a mechanism to foster and promote social and economic development.  They outline eight areas for developing policies for consumer protection, which have been translated into eight consumer rights by the consumer movement: rights to satisfaction of basic needs, safety, choice, information, consumer education, redress, representation and a healthy environment.

Have the UN Guidelines been amended before?

Yes. From 1995 to 1999, Consumers International led a successful campaign to have the Guidelines revised, to include sustainable development principles.  However, these amendments were always understood to be “a first step”; the UN Secretary-General noting that in order to ensure “the relevance of the guidelines in the light of new economic trends,” the Guidelines might also have to be expanded into “other areas, such as new information systems [and] telecommunication[s]”.1 This is exactly what Consumers International (CI) now proposes: updating the Guidelines for the digital age.

Why do the Guidelines need to be updated?

The position of the consumer has changed considerably since the Guidelines were first passed in 1985.  In particular, consumers in the online and digital environment are faced with both new opportunities (such as the rise of the consumer-creator), and new threats to their rights to participate in cultural, civic and educational affairs (such as the use of digital locks to limit fair use rights and access to the public domain).  Such important issues of access to knowledge (A2K) are not covered by the UN Guidelines, nor by any other international instrument.

What is CI's mandate to draft amendments to the UN Guidelines?

Although the Guidelines are an intergovernmental document, as the world's only global federation of consumer groups, Consumers International has been deeply involved in their development at every stage.  The original Guidelines were based on a draft contributed by CI to ECOSOC in 1983.  Similarly the 1999 amendments on sustainable consumption were based upon research conducted by CI in 1998.2 It is therefore appropriate that CI continue to provide its assistance to the UN with the further revision of the Guidelines.  We are committed to engaging with all involved stakeholders in this process.

What is the actual content of the draft amendments?

Amongst the highlights of the proposed amendments3 are provisions which would assist to:

• Ensure that suppliers of digital content inform consumers of the effect of any applicable technical protection measures and information on interoperability with hardware and software.
• Set minimum standards for essential copyright limitations and exceptions for consumers.
• Stop suppliers from using technology to cripple digital products or unreasonably limit the ways in which consumers can use them.
• Promote a permissive approach to copyright to facilitate non-commercial creativity by consumers.
• Require that the dissemination of consumer safety information, and consumer-facing codes and standards, is free of copyright constraints.
• Prohibit IP rights from being enforced in ways that trample on consumers' human rights.
• Ensure that consumers retain access to their own data in formats that they can use, and that such data is projected against misuse.

Is there any precedent for such amendments?

Yes.  The proposed amendments have been drawn from best practices from around the world. For example, the provision that requires consumers to be notified of technical protection mechanisms and interoperability limitations is drawn from new provisions in European consumer law.4  Other provisions are based closely on current legislative developments in Canada5 and Brazil.6The amendments also make reference to relevant UNESCO documents and recommendations.  CI and its partners are in the process of conducting research for a detailed background paper which will illustrate the case for the amendments, with case studies from India, Brazil and South Africa.

What is the process for having the amendments passed?

The draft amendments were developed by CI and its members over a process of several months, then released for broader public comment for a further three months. However, they are still only a starting point for intergovernmental discussion.  CI now seeks to actively engage governments and international organisations in discussions within all appropriate fora (including UNCTAD, UNESCO and the CSTD), towards settling amendments to the Guidelines and eventually having them agreed at the General Assembly.

Who are the contact persons for this project?

For further information, please contact the following parties:

• Overall project coordinator: Jeremy Malcolm <jeremy@ciroap.org>
• Consulting consumer law expert: Robin Brown <robin@ciroap.org>
• Brazilian research coordinator: Guilherme Varella <guilherme@idec.org.br>
• Indian research coordinator: Pranesh Prakash <pranesh@cis-india.org>
• South African research coordinators: Tobias Schonwetter <tobias.schonwetter@za.pwc.com> and Pria Chetty <pria.chetty@za.pwc.com>

1 ECOSOC report E/1997/61, paras 59 and 3.

2 UN DESA, Consumer Protection and Sustainable Consumption: New Guidelines for the Global Consumer (1998), 7, 5.

3 The full text of the proposed amendments is available for download.

4 Helberger Natali, Parliament adopts new directive to improve digital consumer rights (2011).

5 See Bill C-11, s.29-21.

6 Paranaguá, Pedro. Brazil’s Leaked Copyright Reform Draft Bill Shows Latest Thinking (2011).

Last updated 162 days ago by Jeremy Malcolm