Voices for Change: the Consumer Right to Representation

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40 World Consumer Rights Day 2002: Voices for Change Agenda-Setting in E-Commerce at the OECD The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is dedicated to improving consumer welfare through economic growth, although not consumer welfare in our sense of the term but in a more traditional economic sense. Its 30 member countries all have missions in Paris, where the organisation is based. Government representatives attend the meetings, give their governments’ views, negotiate issues and report back to their capitals. The OECD is not a legislative body. It develops voluntary guidelines, best practice recommendations and acts as a think-tank and a policy playground for governments. It is known for doing sound research. The OECD gives us a platform to influence long-term policy and provides access to a considerable number of the world’s governments, writes Naja Felter, Trade and Economics Policy Officer in CI’s Office for Devel-oped and Transition Economies. Our relationship with the OECD varies considerably, depending on the attitude of the committees we deal with and the efforts we have put into the relationship with them. Both business and the trade unions have formal observer status with the OECD. This gives them automatic access to all meetings, documents, etc. They are represented by BIAC (business) and TUAC (trade unions) committees. From time to time, there has been talk in CI about Consumers International becoming the third observer – “CIAC.” However, achieving this goal would take a long time, so we have been looking for other ways of influencing the OECD committees in which we are interested. At the OECD Informal Consultation with Civil Society Representatives in March 2001, CI’s key message to the OECD was to improve its relations to civil society. We suggested that the OECD expand its consultation process to include all stakeholders rather than just the traditional client group, and that consultations happen at the beginning of projects, giving stakeholders improved opportunities to influence and add value to the process and outcomes. The next step was an official CI visit to the OECD in June 2001 to establish and improve relations with several OECD committees. The visit has resulted in improved relations with the targeted committees. The OECD Guidelines on Consumer Protection for E-Commerce are available at http://www.oecd.org and are a good example of CI influencing the policy process of the OECD. When the Guidelines were adopted in December 1999, they were the result of many hours of negotiations in the Consumer Committee, where CI spoke on behalf of consumers. The Guidelines are not perfect. We recently suggested ways of improving them in our updated shopping report, Should I Buy? Shopping Online 2001. But they are a good example of how CI works to improve consumer protection at the OECD. Obviously, the OECD doesn’t listen to us only because we are the international consumer organisation. They listen because we know what we are talking about. Our research on online shopping, privacy protection and dispute resolution in e-commerce is unique and provides a strong platform for our lobbying. Also, we build on the expertise of the many experts in our membership. For the OECD e-commerce work, we make good use of our networks on e-commerce and bring our experts with us to conferences and workshops whenever possible so that they can speak and lobby the government delegates. We also work closely with other groups. For instance, in our work on privacy, we benefit from close cooperation with Privacy International and the Electronic Privacy Information Centre. Other OECD committees have been less open than the Consumer Policy Committee and the Working Party on Privacy and Security. The Trade Committee, the committees on investment and multinational enterprises and on biotechnology are all committees with which we would like to improve our relations. This will be a goal for CI over the next years.
World Consumer Rights Day 2002: Voices for Change The obstacles to greater CI representation at ISO are many, according to Homer – starting with time. Here is the list she dashed off in response: “Where to begin? Resources/ coordinating resources needed to put people/ideas together/produce position papers/feedback/ training.” ISO systems “need to be understood – they aren’t easy!” she adds. “You have to know how to work the system.” Getting consumer groups to understand international standards, and what consumer protection they can offer, is not as automatic as it may sound. National groups are busy on national issues and finding time for them to operate internationally is a challenge. Resources are also needed to travel to international meetings. Long-term activity is required, which is especially difficult when representatives change, and there must be good coordination and briefing capacity from CI. Last but not least, Homer notes that “industry often dominates meetings and can make life difficult, but this is changing – slightly!” Successes in standards • CI was the main advocate of condom trials at higher temperatures to cover tropical climates. CI members (notably IDEC of Brazil and HKCC of Hong Kong) were instrumental in preserving a three-year shelf life, rather than the proposed extension to five years. • CI campaigned for the introduction of a child-sized test finger for household electrical products. Previously, only adult-sized test fingers were used, which would not prevent children being electrocuted. As a result, microwaves and vending machines now specify this in their current product standards. CI is still campaigning for its introduction across all relevant standards. • CI’s proposal for improved warnings on the dangers of airbags was accepted in the form TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue: A Venue for Representation The TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) was born out of a statement at the 1998 EU-US Summit where presidents Bill Clinton and Tony Blair invited civil society to establish EU-US forums to provide input into the TransAtlantic Economic Partnership. The business community had been doing this since 1995 when they set up a TransAtlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) to monitor and influence the growing dialogue between the European Union and the United States government. CI was contacted as the ideal organisation to coordinate a consumer counterbalance to the success of the TABD. CI has served as the TACD secretariat since then. The TACD was launched in September 1998 in meeting that gathered more than 60 consumer representatives. With the collapse of the Environment Dialogue due to funding problems, and the minimal activity of Legislation and Labour Dialogues, the TACD has become the only of a pictogram and text. The warning label must be applied to all child car restraints. • At COPOLCO, CI representatives and the contributions of CI members played a key part in the approval of two forthcoming guides: Information for the guidance of consumers engaged in standardisation and Addressing the needs of older persons and people with disabilities. • The newest ISO/IEC Statement on Consumer Participation in Standardisation contains its strongest language yet on the need for consumer participation and the role of national standards bodies in encouraging this. • In October 2001, CI representatives from the UK and Uganda joined ISO’s new NGO Advisory Group on environmental management standards – the first of its kind at ISO. 41
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