Tenth International Consumer Protection Forum, COMPAL Programme

The Tenth Edition of the International Consumer Protection Forum will be held online and in Spanish on 7 September 2021 from 3.30 to 6 p.m. CEST (Geneva time). 

It will address two major policy issues in Latin America: improving policymaking in consumer protection and consumer data protection, successful experiences and emerging challenges. Consumer protection requires the participation of a variety of public and private institutions with an interest in consumer protection to ensure effective and homogeneous protection.

The first session will share the techniques that consumer protection agencies in Latin America use to inform the formulation of public policies, such as the behavioral insights, surveys and studies, and consumer profiles, among others. The protection of consumer data is a priority for government agencies, consumer associations and businesses, especially in the context of the digital economy. Given the rise of regulations in this regard, the second session will discuss both successful experiences and emerging challenges that consumer protection agencies must face.

Since 2011, UNCTAD's COMPAL Programme has been hosting the annual International Consumer Protection Forum, which has grown to be the major public forum on consumer protection issues in Latin America annually gathering more than 300 participants.

It aims to provide a space for policy makers and other relevant stakeholders such as businesses, consumer associations, academia, practitioners and the public at large to exchange views on current and future challenges and trends to the welfare of consumers. Past editions were hosted in Guayaquil, Lima, Santo Domingo, Bogotá, Cuzco, Guanacaste, Mendoza, Guadalajara, and San José.

Since 2017, the Forum is held jointly with the country that holds the Pro Tempore Presidency of the Ibero-American Forum of Government Consumer Protection Agencies, currently Portugal.

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UNCTAD:  Arnau Izaguerri, Economic Affairs Officer, Competition and Consumer Policies Branch