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Recent achievements
In 1999, the OECD adopted the OECD Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce (1999) to help ensure that consumers are as protected when shopping on line as when buying from local stores or ordering from a catalogue. The Guidelines set out the characteristics of effective protection for online business-to-consumer transactions. The 2003 report, Consumers in the Online Marketplace: The OECD Guidelines Three Years Later, highlighted a gradual evolution in the online B2C marketplace and catalogued the extensive implementation activities that have been undertaken in OECD countries.
In 2003, the OECD adopted the Guidelines for Protecting Consumers from Fraudulent and Deceptive Commercial Practices Across Borders to help governments work together more effectively to stop and prevent cross-border fraud to the detriment of consumers. The Guidelines set forth broad principles for closer international co-operation and specific provisions covering notification, information sharing, and assistance with investigations. They also cover issues regarding the authority of consumer protection enforcement agencies, invite private-sector co-operation, encourage consumer education, and set the stage for future work on the issue of consumer redress.
The Committee concluded substantial work in the area of payment cardholder protections with its Report on Consumer Protections for Payment Cardholders (2002). The Report included a consumer education piece: Using Payment Cards Online: Frequently Asked Questions for Payment Cardholders. In the area of Alternative Dispute Resolution, the CCP co-organised a major conference on online ADR in 2000. Following this event, the CCP produced a consumer education tool, Resolving E-commerce Disputes Online: Asking the Right Questions about ADR to accompany a Report on Legal Provisions Related to Business-to-Consumer Alternative Dispute Resolution (2002).
Current Challenges
The Committee’s current work programme is focused in the following areas:
Building consumer confidence in the global digital economy – Ensuring effective implementation of the E-Commerce and Cross Border Fraud Guidelines is a core project. As recognised in both sets of Guidelines, the role of Dispute Resolution and Redress is fundamental to promoting consumer confidence in the marketplace. In April 2005 the CCP held a public workshop on this topic. The Background Report prepared for the conference examines existing mechanisms to resolve disputes and obtain compensation for consumers in OECD member countries, and analyses how these mechanisms operate in practice, including in cross-border cases.
Impact of new technologies and emerging business practices online – New technologies and emerging business models provide exciting opportunities for consumer and businesses alike. Such developments can also present novel consumer protection issues with the potential to undermine consumer confidence and impede their success. CCP identifies key consumer challenges and appropriate policy responses to new technologies and business models, thereby helping to bring their full benefits to OECD economies. Key areas include spam and mobile commerce.
Consumer policy regimes – OECD countries’ policies have converged in a number of core areas of consumer protection. Yet there remain variations in the broader design of consumer policy regimes. The CCP is examining good practice in a range of areas of consumer policy in order to help countries tailor their regimes and ensure effective means to tackle cross-border challenges. In 2006, the Committee issued the first of its reports in this area which focuses on good practice in running consumer information campaigns concerning scams. Drawing on conventional and behavioural economics, the Committee is also developing an analytical framework to better articulate the economic underpinnings for consumer policy as well clarify its linkages with competition policy. In October 2005, a number of leading academics, senior government economists, and consumer representatives joined the Committee for a roundtable discussion on this topic. The objective was to explore the insights that economics can provide for consumer policy decision making with a view to developing a more rigorous approach to analysing the demand-side of markets. A report on the Roundtable will soon be available.
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