The Sixth 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, 8-12 November 2010) invited UNCTAD to convene two expert meetings on consumer policy between the Review Conferences, separate from the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy, and one expert meeting on the role of competition in fostering sustainable development.
Following the First Ad Hoc Expert Meeting on Consumer Protection (2012): The interface between competition and consumer policies, it was decided that UNCTAD should begin a consultation process on the revision United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection. As a result of this consultation and call for contributions, the UNCTAD secretariat produced the Implementation Report on the United Nations guidelines for Consumer Protection (1985-2013) (TD/B/C.I/CLP/23).
The Second Ad Hoc Expert Meeting on Consumer Protection (2013) discussed the Implementation Report and its conclusions, and proposed the creation of four Working Groups (on e-commerce, financial services, other issues and implementation) whose conclusions would be contained in the UNCTAD Secretariat report on the Modalities for the Revision of the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection.
An additional, an Ad Hoc Expert Meeting on Consumer Protection, was convened on 22 and 23 January 2015 to discuss the Modalities Report and its conclusions, in the form of a Draft Resolution on Consumer Protection annexing the proposed revision of the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection. Various informal meeting with experts on consumer protection and permanent missions in Geneva have been held since then, resulting in the consensus Draft Resolution on Consumer Protection.
The report of the expert group meetings and the content of the Draft Resolution on Consumer Protection will now be submitted for consideration to the Seventh United Nations Conference to Review the Set.
