UNCTAD and Colombia's Superintendence of Industry and. Commerce (SIC) hosted the fourth International Consumer Protection Forum, devoted to the issue of advertising and the law, in Bogotá on 26–27 August.
As well as analyzing the relationship between advertising and the law, participants at this year's forum discussed the related issues of the legal theory of harm, the empirical basis for commercial claims, and the advertising of food products.
One issue that raised especial interest was the case for self-regulation by the advertising industry and the responsibility of Colombian media organizations under consumer protection law.
Participants exchanged views on the present and future challenges of advertising from a consumer protection perspective, and agreed that the crux of law enforcement were rogue advertisers who comply neither with voluntary or nor compulsory standards.
The forum attracted more than 400 participants, including 17 governmental consumer protection authorities, several advertising and media associations, members of academia, and practitioners of advertising law.
UNCTAD has organized the annual International Consumer Protection Forum since 2011 in the cities of Guayaquil in Ecuador, Lima in Peru, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and this year in Bogotá.
The forum brings public and private stakeholders in consumer protection to discuss issues of public policy in a free and constructive manner.
