UNCTAD and PROFECO, the Consumer Protection agency of Mexico, host the eighth edition of the most important public Forum on Consumer Protection issues in Latin America. This forum is followed by the XII Forum of Iberoamerican Consumer Protection Agencies hosted by Mexico.
Since 2011, UNCTAD's COMPAL Programme has been hosting the annual International Consumer Protection Forum, which has grown to be the major public forum on consumer protection issues in Latin America with over 300 participants. It aims to provide a space for policy makers and other relevant stakeholders such as businesses, consumer associations, academia, practitioners and the public at large to exchange views on current and future challenges and trends to the welfare of consumers.
Past editions have been hosted in Guayaquil, Lima, Santo Domingo, Bogotá, Cuzco, Guanacaste and Mendoza.
Back to back with the Forum, on the 3 and 4 of October the XII Iberoamerican Forum of Consumer Protection Agencies takes place gathering representatives from Latin American countries’ agencies as well as from Portugal and Spain. UNCTAD will share the latest developments of its work in Consumer Protection and participating agencies will report on ongoing projects such as the Digital Iberoamerican Atlas of Telecoms Consumers, Class Actions, the Consumer Tourist, E-Commerce, the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection, Self-Regulation and Good Practices Codes of Conduct.
Consumer protection is a major means for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, as empowered consumers contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive development. For consumers to exercise their full potential, public policies and complementary initiativies by civil society and business need to be implemented.
In its resolution 70/186 of 22 December 2015 on Consumer Protection, the United Nations General Assembly recalled that "a robust legal and regulatory framework for consumer protection… serves an important public interest, contributing to economic dynamism and consumer welfare. The United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection add that " Businesses and their authorized agents should have due regard for the interests of consumers and responsibility for upholding consumer protection as an objective.”
Consumer protection not only contributes to sustainable and inclusive development, but also enhances the competitiveness of economies and businesses. Higher standards of protection encourage businesses to improve the goods and services they offer, being more competitive at national and international levels.
The eighth edition of the International Consumer Protection Forum will address the relationship between development, competitiveness and consumer protection in Latin America. It will analyze how to foster consumer confidence in regional markets and how to encourage citizen participation in the making and implementation of consumer protection policies. Consumer protection is a shared responsibility between governments, businesses and consumers, and their participation is essential to ensure a sustainable and inclusive development. In this context, the topics of sustainable consumption, financial services and protection of children’s data on line will also be discussed.
The XII Iberoamerican Forum of Consumer Protection Agencies will provide an occasion for strengthening the cooperation between an informal network of Consumer protection agencies’ representatives as well as with UNCTAD.
