This blog is written by Mihika Swaroop of ICFAI University, Dehradun
INTRODUCTION:
With the rise in international exchange and exchange, consumer protection has reached an international level. In the selling of goods and services, the international economy nowadays is interdependent, mostly conducted by multinationals. Consumer issues do not generally restrict themselves to the laws of each world. Consumer protection took its rightful place on the international agenda with the advent of e-commerce. Several international bodies and legislations around the world have long felt the need to control consumers' right to information in the cyber field. Probably the first of the international framework to come up with a detailed framework in the field of information to be provided while transacting through the digital medium was the guidelines on consumer security in the sense of e-commerce, adopted in 1999 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD). Many attempts are made worldwide to update current legislation and code of practises and create new consumer protection standards in the digital age.
Four broad heads can be listed as an international consumer protection study:
1. Co-operation International
2. Regional cooperation / agreements regional cooperation
3. International law
4. Auto-regulation
United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection (UNGCP)
The UNGCP was drafted by Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and adopted by the General Assembly in 1985.[1] The guidelines have been established for the following purposes:
(a) assist countries to ensure that their populations as customer are sufficiently covered and maintained;
(b) encourage patterns of manufacture and distribution which respond to consumer needs and desires;
(c) Promote the manufacture and sale of goods and services by those interested in the ethical behaviour of consumers;
d) To assist countries in curbing both national and foreign firms that adversely impact customers' abusive business practices.
(e) To enable independent market groups to develop; (e)
(f) More collaboration on international consumer security issues;
(g) Fostering market conditions that allow consumers to have greater choice at lower prices;
(h) Enable sustainable use.
In 1980, the UN Secretary General emphasized that “international co-operation with regard to consumer protection is needed because the development of consumer protection policies no longer require that measures be taken only at the national level.[2] Access to sufficient knowledge to allow consumers to make rational decisions, to educate consumers and to make efficient consumer remedies accessible is one of the primary legal necessities to be addressed by the Directives. The UNGCP was instrumental in protecting consumers Intergovernmental and state legislation. Legislation. Numerous domestic consumer protection regulations are inspired by UNGCP, including the 1986 Consumer Protection Act.
Consumer International (CI), the global federation of consumer-right organisations, is in support of revising the Consumer Protection Guidelines for information society as it aims to update the UN Guidelines on Digital Consumer Protection. The guidelines outline new steps for e-commerce and related areas of concern for digital customers. Consumer International believes it will dramatically help to carry out changes required on a global , regional and state level to add access to the guidelines on information.[3] The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held a consultation on the revision of the United Nations Consumer Protection Guidelines with the aid of Consumer International and several other international consumers' networks.
UNCITRAL Model Law on E-commerce
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law ( UNCITRAL)[4] is an organisation established by the General Assembly and specialised worldwide in the reform of trade law. In creating a system for more progressive harmonisation and modernisation of international trade law, UNCITRAL has an significant role to play. The UNCITRAL members were chosen from among States and represent various legal practises and economic development levels[5]. Member States are the United Nations members.
UNCITRAL Electronic Commerce Model Legislation encourages and promotes trade with electronic means. The Model Law provides national lawmakers with a collection of internationally appropriate rules to eliminate legal barriers and to provide fair treatment for paper and electronic information and thus allow international trade to be successful. The Model Law includes legal principles for non-discrimination, technological neutrality and the equivalence of roles. It also ensures that contracts entered into by electronic means are created and legitimate, data messages are transmitted, receipts have been accepted, and time and place have been identified for dispatch and reception of information messages. The Government of India implemented the Information Technology Act in 2000, in line with the Model Law. The legislation makes e-commerce and e-government simpler in the country. The Legislation also provides for a legislative system and punishments for Cybercrimes and multiple offences regimes. In many fields related to people's daily lives, the IT Act allows for large-scale implementation of IT. New developments in Indian Consumer Protection Law often apply to certain provisions of the IT Law to deal with consumer contract problems in electronic form.
World Trade Organization (WTO)
In 1998[6], the World Trade Organization ( WTO) established a systematic work programme, recognising the growth and opportunities generated by the e-commerce sector, in order to explore the problems of global e-commerce. Under the auspices of the General Council, the work programme was carried out in five stages. Discussion included a number of transversal issues such as the classification of electronic transmission content; questions relating to development; fiscal implications of e-commerce; relationships between e-commerce (and potential alternatives) and traditional modes of trade; application on electronic transport of customs duties; competition; jurisdiction and relevant law / other legal issue In order to examine the impact of e-commerce on global trade, the Council on Trade in Goods , Trade in Services, Trade Intellectual Property Council, and Trade and Development Committee have been named. The division of the electronic sector into products or services was a major topic that revolved around the work programme. Although developed countries like GATT-based e-commerce laws, developing countries like India and China tend to incorporate them under GATS-based services. Some obstacles to the use of e commerce for growth have been described as insufficient regulatory structure for network access, interoperability, protection of data and privacy, jurisdiction, taxation, IP protection, and electronic signatures.
CONCLUSION;
The context of this article is the statement that the customer policy in non-face e-commerce transactions needs to be stricter. The study shows that international and regional cooperation have highlighted standardised disclosure of government information in order to ensure the adequacy and accountability of online transaction business, products and services sold in the online portals, and prior information on each step of the online transaction. The study also shows that transaction is vital to the decision-making power of customers. The international guidelines and regional agreements also acknowledge the need to enable customers to use the electronic platform for trading on the new mechanism of the market and consumer rights and responsibilities.
[1] United Nations General Assembly, “United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection (as expanded in
1999)”, A/C.2/54/L.24 9TH, (1985)
[2] Report of the Secretary-General, “International Activities for Consumer Protection”, in IOCU, Proceedings
of the International Seminar on Law and the Consumer”, Hong Kong, (1980).
[3] Brown Robin, Access to Knowledge, in Jeremy Malcolm (ed.), Updating the UN Guidelines for Consumer
Protection for the Digital Age, p.13, (Consumers International, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).
[4] UN General Assembly, “Establishment of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law,”Resolution 2205 (XXI), (1965).
[5] “A Guide to UNCITRAL Basic facts about the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law”,
(2013), p. 2, (United Nations Office, Vienna), available http://www.uncitral.org/pdf/english/texts/general/12-
57491-Guide-to-UNCITRAL-e.pdf
[6] Declaration on global electronic commerce”, (1998),WT/MIN(98)/DEC/2, (May 25,1998), available at
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/ecom_e/mindec1_e.htm
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