UNCTAD proposes revisions to UNGCP

UNCTAD recently welcomed consumer protection experts from national authorities, Geneva based Missions, civil society and academia to the Palais des Nations, to discuss the draft resolutions for revision of the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection (UNGCP).

The third Ad Hoc Expert Meeting on Consumer Protection, which was planned under the regular work of the UNCTAD secretariat and arising from the Doha Mandate, was composed of 'structured sessions' corresponding to each of the four UNGCP Working Groups (E-Commerce, Financial Services, Other

Issues and Implementation) and the over-arching principles of these issues, such as disclosure and transparency, education and awareness and redress mechanisms.

Two days of constructive dialogue and contributions from a wide range of participants resulted in a revised, newly organised version of the draft resolutions.

The UNCTAD secretariat has proposed a period of three weeks for stakeholders to provide further contributions, before finalising a version of the resolutions for further discussions towards the end of March.

The agreed resolution will be submitted for consideration to the seventh United Nations Conference to Review the Set, to be held in Geneva from July 6-10, 2015.