UNCTAD will deliver the keynote address at the II Saudi Product Safety Forum on the issue of “UNCTAD’s Working Group on Consumer Product Safety.” Globalization and the digital revolution highlight the importance of product safety at the international level. In order to ensure consumer safety, market surveillance becomes both more necessary and more challenging as it requires cross-border cooperation. The revised UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection provide useful recommendations on how to implement this.
UNCTAD’s Intergovernmental group of experts provides the only platform for international cooperation at the global level. Networking the networks is ever more important, that is why UNCTAD has reached out to the OECD Working Party on Consumer Product Safety; the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe; the International Organization for Standardization, and the Organization of American States to ensure fluid cooperation. UNCTAD also provides technical cooperation and capacity building to developing countries and economies in transition, and provides policy tools, such as the Manual on Consumer Protection.
The II Saudi Product Safety Forum is organized by the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organizations (SASO), within the framework of the project to develop a “Quality Infrastructure System in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” The project is part of the Vision 2030 to foster the development of a comprehensive, modern and operational framework for product safety, which uses internationally accepted standards.
