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Consumer Protection in UNIDO Market Access Initiatives
Consumers International is the worldwide federation of consumer organizations with 263 members from 119 countries, including consumer organizations, public authorities and standards bodies. CI has official representation on a number of international instutions such as Codex Alimentarius, UN ECOSOC, ISO, IEC, OECD, ASEAN and the European Commission. Its members send consumer experts to a wide range of technical committees and to the ISO Consumer Policy Committee. After reviewing a the main areas of actitity of both organizations, it was clear that there were number of areas of possible cooperation which would result in more effective programmes and a more efficient use of resources. First steps will be taken by applying CI's expertise to UNIDO's EU-funded UEMOA Programme which has distinct activities to increase consumer involvement in quality issues, such as: an assessment of consumer organizations in the region; training journalists in consumer issues; and support for the creation of regional mechanisms for consumer information. For UNIDO, working with an organization such as CI was particularly interesting because of its regional network. CI's role will also be augmented in similar UNIDO programmes under development in cooperation with SADC (Southern African Development Community) and ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) and with countries in the Central American, Arab and ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) regions. The ground
for the CI visit had been well prepared by an earlier visit, in
November 2001, by UK Consumers' Association Research & Testing Centre
(CARTC) representative, Glen Bosmans. The non-profit CARTC is one
of the largest independent consumer product testing facilities in
the world. It is owned by UK Consumers Association and provides
comparative product data for its Which? Magazine and for many independent
consumer magazines around the world. Tests are to national, European
and International standards, but also reflect how consumers really
use a product. Glen spent some three weeks examining the extent
to which UNIDO's Quality, Standardization and Metrology (QSM) activities
impacted on consumer protection. The resulting report elaborates
how the UNIDO Quality and Productivity Service Module carries out
consumer protection activities through such tasks as the establishment
of laboratories, the development of national standards and accreditation
capabilities and the implementation of improved quality systems
such as HACCP and the ISO quality systems. As the report says "These
services are of implicit importance to consumers as they help ensure
that products and services provided by enterprises are of a consistent
level of quality and safety".
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Consumers
International Following discussions with UNIDO Director- General
Carlos Magariņos during the UK Department for International Development
(DFID) Ministerial Round Table on Product Standards, in London on
24 - 26 February, Consumers International (CI) Regional Director
for Africa, Amadou Kanoute and CI Head of Development, Chris Gethin,
paid a visit to UNIDO's Vienna headquarters to meet with staff responsible
for the UNIDO Quality and Productivity Service Module to elaborate
further on areas of possible future collaboration. The importance
of the consumer to exporters in developing countries wishing to
gain access to export markets in developed countries is growing.
This is evidenced by the emergence of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL)
concept. TBL reflects a change in the perception of sustainable
development brought about by public pressure on global industry,
"the corporate citizen", to add environmental impact and social
impact to the traditional single "bottom line" of profit.
