Action by the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy

The Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy,

Recalling General Assembly resolution 70/186 of 22 December 2015 titled “Consumer protection”, adopting the revised United Nations guidelines for consumer protection,

Recalling the resolution adopted by the Ninth United Nations Conference to Review All Aspects of the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices (Geneva, July 2025),1

Recalling General Assembly resolution 80/119 of 15 December 2025 titled “Consumer product safety”, adopting the United Nations principles for consumer product safety,

Taking note of the decision of the sixteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Geneva, 2025) in paragraphs 23 and 80.11 that “competition and consumer protection laws and policies play a crucial role in sustainable and inclusive development, by promoting open, dynamic, fair and safe markets and ensuring access by consumers to essential goods and services, empowering and protecting consumers from fraudulent and deceptive commercial practices and boosting consumer education to make more informed choices” and that UNCTAD should “continue to support member States in the field of competition and consumer protection, including in, but not limited to, the areas of the digital economy and cross-border anti-cartel cooperation; this support includes the formulation and implementation of relevant policies, facilitation of cooperation and information-sharing among relevant national authorities, sharing of good practices and contribution to the implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Competition and Consumer Protection and other relevant United Nations meetings, as well as full utilization of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy and the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy”,

Reaffirming the fundamental role that consumer protection law and policy plays in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, by ensuring access by consumers to essential goods and services, promoting sustainable consumption, protecting consumers from fraudulent and deceptive commercial practices and from harms associated with unsafe products and empowering consumers by boosting consumer education to ensure more informed choices,

Recognizing the important contribution of UNCTAD, serving as the focal point on consumer protection within the United Nations system, in improving consumer protection at the global level and advancing policy discussions, in particular on consumer product safety, sustainable consumption, electronic commerce (e-commerce) and online dispute resolution and promoting gender equality,

Recognizing the need to strengthen the work of UNCTAD in consumer protection law and policy, so as to enhance its development role and benefits for consumers and businesses,

Recognizing that effective consumer protection enforcement in global markets requires robust national frameworks, adequate investigative and sanctioning powers, effective redress mechanisms and strengthened international cooperation, including to address cross-border and digital market harms, while making responsible use of digital enforcement tools with appropriate safeguards,

Recognizing that consumer product safety is essential in protecting consumers from unsafe products both online and offline; that products should not pose an unreasonable risk to their health or safety in reasonably normal or foreseeable use or misuse; and that product safety helps build trust in economic operators and markets,

Recognizing that consumer information and education are essential in achieving consumer protection and sustainable consumption, and that reliable, accessible and actionable information, including through behavioural insights, awareness campaigns and effective action against greenwashing, empowers consumers,

Recognizing the positive impact that voluntary peer reviews of consumer protection law and policy have in improving legal protection, public policy and institutional frameworks in peer reviewed countries,

Taking note of the deliberations of the informal working groups on consumer product safety, on consumer protection in e-commerce and on consumer protection and gender, and of the reports presented at its ninth session,

Noting with satisfaction the important written and oral contributions from member States and their consumer protection authorities and other participants that enriched the debate during its ninth session,

Taking note with appreciation of the documentation prepared by the UNCTAD secretariat for its ninth session,

1. Welcomes the efforts of member States and other stakeholders in implementing the United Nations guidelines for consumer protection and the United Nations principles for consumer product safety; and reaffirms its commitment to providing an annual forum and modalities for multilateral consultations, discussions and exchanges of views between member States on matters related to the guidelines and to the principles;
2. Encourages member States to strengthen consumer product safety frameworks, including through market surveillance, recalls, business responsibility, effective enforcement and international cooperation, and to promote the implementation of the United Nations principles for consumer product safety to protect consumers from unsafe products in physical and digital marketplaces;
3. Underlines the importance of effective consumer protection enforcement in ensuring fair, safe and transparent markets, addressing fraudulent, misleading and unfair commercial practices, including in cross-border and digital markets, and enhancing access to redress through strengthened national frameworks and international cooperation;
4. Congratulates the Government of Argentina for its voluntary peer review of consumer protection law and policy; looks forward to the successful implementation of its policy recommendations with the support of the UNCTAD secretariat; encourages interested member States to volunteer for future peer reviews of consumer protection law and policy, including as peer reviewers; and takes note with appreciation of the presentation by Argentina of the model court for consumer relations project, which aims to strengthen access to justice and effective consumer redress;
5. Encourages member States to strengthen consumer information and education systems, including through reliable and accessible labelling, clear and practical consumer information, awareness campaigns and educational initiatives, and to address greenwashing and misleading sustainability claims that undermine informed and responsible choices;
6. Encourages the continuation of the information-gathering process on the legal and institutional framework for consumer protection, including in particular the development of the UNCTAD world consumer protection map; and invites all member States to participate in its completion and update;
7. Emphasizes the importance of regional cooperation in the enforcement of consumer protection law and policy; invites consumer protection authorities to strengthen their national legislative frameworks for bilateral, regional and international cooperation; and requests the UNCTAD secretariat to continue to explore, gather and promote best practices for international cooperation;
8. Welcomes the initiatives carried out by individual member States, UNCTAD and other organizations and networks in building capacity and strengthening institutions in the area of consumer protection and product safety; and calls upon all interested parties to work together and identify and strengthen synergies;
9. Decides to renew the mandate of the informal working group on consumer protection in e-commerce, to continue to address the challenges faced by consumers in digital markets, particularly in relation to e-commerce platforms, including those posed by emerging technologies in consumer protection; to develop and disseminate outputs and capacity-building materials; to organize webinars and meetings, to exchange national and regional experiences; to promote cooperation and synergies with other international organizations and networks; and to report to the tenth session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy;
10. Decides to renew the mandate of the informal working group on consumer product safety, to continue work on strengthening consumer product safety frameworks at the national and regional levels, assisting in the implementation of the United Nations principles for consumer product safety and improving international cooperation and coordination, to protect consumers from hazards to their health and safety; and to report to the tenth session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy;
11. Decides to renew the mandate of the informal working group on consumer protection and gender, renamed the informal working group on consumer protection and gender equality, to continue work with a special focus on women and girls in consumer protection, by encouraging and sharing best practices and advancing activities focused on advertising, consumer product safety and financial services; and to report to the tenth session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy;
12. Requests the UNCTAD secretariat to prepare a report as background documentation for the tenth session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy on the topic of “Protection of vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers in the age of artificial intelligence”;
13. Requests the UNCTAD secretariat to facilitate consultations, encourage contributions from member States and promote discussions among them on the topics of corrective measures by businesses to ensure product safety; collective resolution procedures; and online advertising and scams;
14. Requests the UNCTAD secretariat to prepare, for the consideration of the tenth session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy, an updated review of capacity-building in and technical assistance on consumer protection law and policy, including challenges in the delivery and the effectiveness of these activities, and to assess the long-term impact of these activities, based on information received from member States; and invites member States to provide such information for this purpose;
15. Requests the UNCTAD secretariat to continue to compile a list of contact persons of consumer protection authorities, to facilitate cooperation in accordance with guideline 87;
16. Notes with appreciation the voluntary financial and other contributions received from member States and regional and international organizations; invites them to continue to assist UNCTAD on a voluntary basis in its capacity-building and technical cooperation activities by providing experts, training facilities and financial or other resources; and requests the UNCTAD secretariat to pursue capacity-building and technical cooperation activities, including training, and, where possible, to focus such activities on maximizing their impact in all interested countries, particularly developing countries.