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OECD/LEGAL/0504

Adopted on:  09/10/2024

   
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DECLARATION ON PROTECTING AND EMPOWERING CONSUMERS IN THE DIGITAL AND GREEN
TRANSITIONS

In force Substantive Outcome Document Industry, Business and Entrepreneurship

WE, THE MINISTERS AND REPRESENTATIVES of Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel,
Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia,
Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Türkiye, Ukraine, the United
Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union, in the context of the
first-ever meeting of the Committee on Consumer Policy (CCP) at Ministerial
level, at the OECD headquarters in Paris on 8-9 October 2024, chaired by
Australia, that discussed the centrality of consumers in the digital and green
transitions:

WE ACKNOWLEDGE the important role of the CCP and its Working Party on Consumer
Product Safety (WPCPS), as fora to convene consumer policymakers, authorities
and other key stakeholders to address consumer and product safety issues,
building on policy analysis and empirical research.

WE RECALL the statements of the OECD Council condemning the aggression by Russia
against Ukraine in the strongest possible terms as a clear violation of
international law and a serious threat to the rules-based international order;
and RECALL the United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/ES-11/1.

WE RECALL the OECD 60th Vision Statement “Trust in Global Co-operation – The
Vision for the OECD for the Next Decade” which reasserts the OECD’s core values,
reaffirms its founding goals and provides that the OECD will advance responses
to the challenges of digitalisation and will work towards strong, sustainable,
green, inclusive and resilient growth.

WE RECOGNISE that:

●consumers are at the centre of the global economy – their spending accounts for
around 60% of gross domestic product across OECD countries, and every day their
transactions number in the hundreds of billions, which drive economic growth and
support businesses and the livelihoods of workers;

●in well-functioning markets, consumers have the power to collectively influence
business conduct;

●digital markets can benefit consumers through easy access to goods, services,
and information, but there is a growing awareness that many of these markets are
not functioning in ways that allow consumers to realise their full benefits;

●digital business models and technologies create a range of significant, and
often obscured, risks and harms to consumers that can undermine consumer choice,
trust and safety, and force honest businesses to compete on an uneven playing
field;

●evidence indicates that many consumers globally would like to make more
sustainable choices to mitigate the pace and gravity of climate change,
depletion of natural resources, biodiversity loss, pollution and other
environmental harms, but often face a number of obstacles that prevent them from
acting on their preferences, undermine consumer choice and trust, and force
honest businesses to compete on an uneven playing field;

●robust consumer policy and enforcement play a critical role in protecting
consumers from harms and empowering them to make informed decisions;

●policy and empirical research can enrich our understanding of consumer
behaviour, as well as business practices and their effects on consumer
understanding, attitudes and behaviours, and allow for evidence-based and
effective policy;

●consumer policy and empirical research may be relevant to other policy areas in
which consumers play a role, including competition, privacy, digital,
environmental and gender policy, as well as the protection of people at high
risk of harm;

●there are significant interlinkages between the digital and green transitions,
including in how consumers access information, goods and services, and through
the environmental footprint of e-commerce.

WE EMPHASISE that:

●consumer well-being should be a priority for businesses and for government
policy;

●failure to strengthen consumer protection and empowerment will lead to further
harm to consumers and risks harm to markets, society and the environment;

●decisive action is needed to mitigate the risks and capture the opportunities
consumers face in digital markets and the markets for goods and services with
environmental impacts, through whole-of-government and multi-disciplinary policy
and enforcement approaches;

●the global and interconnected nature of such issues requires international
co-operation, which the OECD, particularly through the CCP, is well placed to
support, in collaboration with partner economies, intergovernmental
organisations and other stakeholders, building on shared values.

Protecting and empowering consumers in the digital transition

WE RECOGNISE that:

●well-functioning digital markets can provide consumers, where they have the
necessary skills and access, with greater choice and more complete information
to make informed decisions, and new technologies hold the promise of improving
consumers’ lives;

●digital business models and technologies, however, can create and exacerbate
information and structural power asymmetries, which facilitate business
practices that can harm, mislead and exploit consumers and by doing so, weaken
consumer choice and trust in markets;

●among the risks that consumers face as they navigate digital markets are:
manipulative, coercive, deceptive, or addictive online design techniques; fake
reviews; exploitative personalisation; pervasive and extensive data collection,
tracking and sharing; the exploitation of behavioural biases and information
asymmetries; algorithmic discrimination; fraud; sophisticated scams; counterfeit
goods; and access to unsafe products;

●all consumers may at times be targeted by these practices, and some, such as
children (including teenagers) and older consumers face particular risks online;

●the consequences of these practices are serious and far-reaching, resulting in
substantial and wide-ranging consumer harm, including direct financial loss,
erosion of privacy and physical and psychological harm, including addiction;

●a strong and effective consumer policy environment can enable consumers to have
trust when engaging with digital businesses and technologies.

WE COMMIT to strengthening our efforts to:

●identify and take action against ongoing and emerging consumer harms in digital
markets;

●encourage businesses in digital markets to pay due regard to the interests of
consumers and act in accordance with fair business, advertising and marketing
practices, as well as the general principle of good faith;

●protect and empower all consumers, including those who may be particularly at
risk of harm, whether because of age, gender, skills, income, health,
disability, ethnicity, cultural background, digital literacy or other factors.

WE CALL on the OECD, through the CCP, and in collaboration with other relevant
OECD bodies and international fora, to:

●significantly enhance our evidence base and understanding of how digital
business models, technologies and practices benefit consumers or create or
exacerbate consumer risks and harms, and identify policies that protect and
empower consumers in digital markets;

●update the 2016 Recommendation on Consumer Protection in E-commerce
[OECD/LEGAL/0422] to address existing and emerging consumer risks and harms in
the digital transition.

Protecting and empowering consumers in the green transition

WE RECOGNISE that:

●evidence indicates many consumers globally are concerned about climate change
and the environment, and that these concerns can be important to consumer
decisions;

●in well-functioning markets, these consumers have the potential to incentivise
businesses to provide more sustainable and safe goods and services, including
through innovative business models and digital tools, to help shift market
offerings towards more sustainable choices;

●consumers with access to clear, accurate and easy-to-understand information and
protected from misleading and unfair practices are better able to consider the
environmental and climate impact of their decisions;

●consumers, however, often lack access to such information or are faced with
confusing, misleading, deceptive or unsubstantiated environmental and climate
claims, which can also undermine consumer trust and competition;

●other consumer protection issues, including product labelling, second-hand
product sales and rentals, shared services, product repair, product warranties,
and business liability, can also affect the ability of consumers to act on their
environmental concerns in marketplace transactions;

●there are other obstacles consumers face when looking to reduce their
environmental impact, and addressing them can require the engagement of several
policy areas, including but not limited to consumer policy;

●other policy areas can play an important role in addressing obstacles to
sustainable consumption that impact all consumers;

●insights into consumer understanding of environmental claims and possible
obstacles to sustainable consumption can serve as a foundation for
evidence-based policy measures, whether in the field of consumer policy or other
policy areas.

WE COMMIT to:

●strengthening consumer protection from misleading, deceptive, and
unsubstantiated environmental claims, which thereby also levels the playing
field for honest businesses and fosters business incentives to provide more
sustainable options;

●empowering consumers by improving their access, including in marketing and
through labels, to clear, accurate and easy-to-understand information about the
environmental impact of goods and services;

●examining how consumer policy can support consumers’ ability to choose more
sustainable goods and services and to safely and easily repair, reuse,
repurpose, share, lease, recycle, and sustainably dispose of products or
otherwise reduce their environmental footprint, as they desire.

WE CALL on the OECD, through the CCP, and in collaboration with other relevant
OECD bodies and international fora, to:

●examine how consumer policy can help those consumers who want to reduce their
environmental footprint to do so;

●continue empirical work to better understand the factors affecting consumers'
marketplace decision-making, in particular their understanding of environmental
information and claims and of the environmental impact of their choices;

●consider policy recommendations, in particular to address how consumer
protection authorities can work together towards effective enforcement on
environmental claims.

Addressing new consumer product safety risks in a fast-evolving and global
marketplace

WE WELCOME the OECD’s continuing coordination of global awareness campaigns on
product safety, including the launch at this Ministerial Meeting of the 2024
Campaign on Lithium-ion Battery Safety.

WE RECOGNISE that:

●consumers increasingly buy goods and services in a complex digital and global
marketplace, where unsafe products are readily available for sale;

●information about their safety when used, reused, remanufactured, refurbished,
made from recycled content or disposed of is not equally available to consumers
and businesses;

●digital and other new and innovative technologies can reduce and address
consumer product safety risks, including through earlier identification of
hazards, remote product repair and upgrades, better traceability and swifter and
more effective product recalls;

●the incorporation of digital or other new technologies in consumer products,
however, may pose novel product safety risks, which can also impact mental
health and child development;

●digital business models, such as online marketplaces, combined with global
supply chains, have enabled delivery (including direct delivery) to consumers of
unsafe products, without sufficient accountability throughout the supply chain;

●circular business models may also pose new risks, such as insufficient
oversight of second-hand or refurbished products, underlining the need for
product safety over the lifecycle of the product and clear supply chain
accountability;

●unsafe products cause substantial harm to consumers, including death, injury or
illness and potential impacts on mental health, and financial costs, as well as
significant costs to economies;

●there is a growing need for international cooperation to establish and enforce
product safety frameworks to reduce the risk of unsafe products reaching
consumers;

●educating consumers about product safety and their rights can empower them to
choose safer products.

WE COMMIT to:

●working together, including through the CCP and its WPCPS, towards improving
consumer product safety policy frameworks globally;

●ensuring consumer product safety policy frameworks can effectively address
persistent and emerging consumer product safety risks, and that businesses, in
particular online marketplaces, take proactive steps in addressing these risks;

●effectively enforcing consumer product safety legal obligations on businesses;

●working to ensure online marketplaces take responsibility for the safety of the
products listed on their sites, swiftly remove unsafe products when they are
identified, and prevent the same or similarly unsafe products from being listed;

●reinforcing regulatory authorities’ ability to monitor, assess and address
current and emerging risks to consumer health and safety.

WE CALL on the OECD, through the CCP, and in collaboration with other relevant
OECD bodies and international fora, to:

●identify consumer product safety opportunities and challenges, including the
safe design of sustainable products, and promote the adaptation of risk
assessment methodologies, in light of issues related to online sales, digital
technologies in products, as well as circular business models and the broader
green transition;

●draw on behavioural insights and empirical evidence to deepen understanding of
consumer use of unsafe products and ways to foster their engagement in product
recalls;

●support the development of robust policies, laws, standards, enforcement tools
and other initiatives such as voluntary business commitments (“pledges”), to
address consumer product safety challenges, taking into account impacts on
different consumer groups;

●enhance and broaden usage of existing international co-operation and
information sharing tools, such as the OECD GlobalRecalls portal, and develop
new tools as necessary.

Working together, across borders and policy areas to protect and empower
consumers

WE WELCOME the launch of a Global Forum on Consumer Policy as an inclusive
network to discuss consumer issues, behavioural insights, technology and market
trends, and emerging policy and empirical consumer research with academia, civil
society (in particular, consumer organisations), businesses and other
stakeholders (including Business at OECD and the Trade Union Advisory Committee
to the OECD).

WE RECOGNISE that:

●in light of the increasing intersections between consumer policy and other
policy areas such as competition, digital, privacy, environmental, energy,
health, finance, trade, transport, and gender policy, as well as the protection
of people at high risk of harm, multidisciplinary policy and enforcement
approaches incorporating behavioural insights can be beneficial;

●with global supply chains and increasing cross-border consumer transactions and
data sharing, accelerated by digital markets, effective international consumer
policy and enforcement co-operation is critical to consumer protection, redress,
empowerment, confidence in the safety of products, and trust in global markets
and trade;

●co-operating and exchanging experiences and expertise with counterparts,
including through participation at the OECD and developing and implementing OECD
standards and tools, have led to more effective consumer policy and enforcement
at national, regional and global levels;

●collaboration of all stakeholders, including policy makers, enforcers and their
networks, civil society (in particular, consumer organisations), businesses and
academia, can strengthen the impact of consumer protection and empowerment;

●by contributing to well-functioning markets and trust in products across all
regions, including in emerging and developing economies, consumer policy can
support economic growth and development.

WE COMMIT to:

●strengthening consumer policy and enforcement co-operation globally, including
by sharing best practices, exchanging information, and enhancing cross-border
investigatory and enforcement activities, and fostering access to cross-border
dispute resolution and redress for consumers;

●deepening collaboration with civil society (in particular, consumer
organisations), businesses and academia to support evidence-based consumer
policies;

●enhancing co-operation with other policy areas to develop whole-of-government
approaches to current and emerging consumer policy and product safety issues.

WE CALL on the OECD, through the CCP, and in collaboration with other relevant
OECD bodies, enforcement networks and international fora, to:

●foster policy and enforcement co-operation and exchange of best practices and
experiences across countries to address shared opportunities and challenges,
including through the Global Forum on Consumer Policy;

●deepen understanding of the intersection of consumer policy and other policy
areas to address issues in cross-cutting topics involving consumer protection
and empowerment;

●strengthen dialogue with emerging and developing economies to foster robust and
inclusive consumer policies that support sustainable growth and economic
development.

Strengthening the evidence base of consumer policy and the effectiveness of
enforcement

WE RECOGNISE that:

●the increasing complexity of markets demands that consumer policy measures be
evidence-based and regularly reviewed to ensure they reflect new circumstances
and evidence;

●gathering socio-economic and demographic disaggregated data, including by
gender and age, has the potential to inform the design of a more equitable and
inclusive consumer policy;

●information disclosure and transparency measures may in some instances be
insufficient alone to protect consumers;

●consumer protection enforcers may not be able to fully address current
challenges with existing tools and powers to curb prohibited conduct;

●the OECD, through its wide geographic coverage, reach across policy areas, and
the CCP’s consumer policy expertise, is well placed to deliver and act as a
locus for consumer policy and empirical research to support national, regional
and global consumer policy efforts.

WE COMMIT to:

●strengthening the evidence base for consumer policy and enforcement, by
deepening understanding of consumer behaviour and business practices, drawing on
behavioural insights and empirical research;

●strengthening the tools and powers available to relevant enforcers to take
effective action.

WE CALL on the OECD, through the CCP and in collaboration with other relevant
OECD bodies, enforcement networks and international fora, to:

●expand its cross-country policy and empirical research, taking into account
behavioural insights;

●undertake work to improve gender-disaggregated data, identify knowledge gaps,
and address gender issues in consumer policy;

●act as a locus to discuss and promote policy and empirical consumer research
through the Global Forum on Consumer Policy;

●update the 2014 OECD Recommendation on Consumer Policy Decision Making
[OECD/LEGAL/0403], taking into account the CCP’s policy and empirical research,
to reflect new methodologies and technologies for effective consumer policy and
enforcement.




BACKGROUND INFORMATION


The Declaration on Protecting and Empowering Consumers in the Digital and Green
Transitions was adopted on 9 October 2024 on the occasion of the meeting of the
Committee on Consumer Policy (CCP) at Ministerial level (hereafter, “CCP
Ministerial meeting”) held at the OECD in Paris, France.



2024 meeting of the Committee on Consumer Policy at Ministerial level

Since its establishment in 1969, the CCP has sought to promote consumer
well-being through policies and measures to protect consumers from harm and
empower them to make informed decisions. In the face of fast-paced digital
developments and worsening environmental degradation, the 2024 CCP meeting at
Ministerial level chartered a vision for consumer policy to seize the
opportunities and respond to the global challenges posed by the digital and
green transitions.

Digital markets have brought consumers numerous benefits, including easy access
to goods and services worldwide. However, they have also exposed consumers to
significant harm from misleading, unfair and fraudulent commercial practices
(including “dark commercial patterns” manipulating consumer decisions, pervasive
tracking, and scams). Additionally, consumers are facing large volumes of unsafe
products available online and new risks associated with digital technologies in
products. Evidence also shows that while many consumers want to make more
sustainable choices, obstacles such as unclear, inaccurate, and misleading green
claims can prevent them from making green choices.

With consumer spending accounting for around 60% of gross domestic product (GDP)
on average across OECD countries, robust and agile consumer policies, enriched
by behavioural insights, are crucial to protect consumers from harm and empower
them to make informed choices, significantly contributing to well-functioning
markets. As these issues know no borders and are increasingly interlinked with
other policy areas (such as competition, health, privacy, digital, environmental
and gender policy), whole-of-government and multi-stakeholder approaches,
supported by strong international cooperation, are needed. 

Scope of the Declaration

The Declaration was developed through extensive consultations and an iterative
process involving OECD Members and non-Members, through both the CCP and its
Working Party on Consumer Product Safety. It also benefitted from inputs from
other international organsiations and relevant stakeholders. 

The Declaration emphasises that consumer well-being should be a priority for
businesses and government policy and recognises that sound consumer policy and
enforcement are needed to address the challenges of the digital and green
transitions. There are five pillars in the Declaration, outlining Adherents’
commitments as well as calls on the OECD to support their efforts:



 * The first pillar focuses on protecting and empowering consumers in the
   digital transition.

 * The second pillar focuses on protecting and empowering consumers in the green
   transition.

 * The third pillar focuses on addressing new consumer product safety risks in a
   fast-evolving and global marketplace.

 * The fourth pillar focuses on working together, across borders and policy
   areas to protect and empower consumers.

 * The fifth pillar focuses on strengthening the evidence base of consumer
   policy and effectiveness of enforcement.



These five pillars are complementary and mutually reinforcing to capitalise on
societal transitions while safeguarding consumers.

For further information please visit the OECD Consumer Policy Ministerial
Meeting website at www.oecd-events.org/consumer-policy-ministerial/en.

For further information on consumer policy work at the OECD please visit
www.oecd.org/en/topics/policy-issues/consumer-policy or contact
consumer@oecd.org.




RELATED DOCUMENT(S)

OECD (2024), Issues notes providing background information for discussion at the
OECD 2024 Consumer Policy Ministerial Meeting
OECD (2023), "Consumer vulnerability in the digital age", OECD Digital Economy
Papers, No. 355, OECD Publishing, Paris
OECD (2023), "Online product safety sweep report", OECD Digital Economy Papers,
No. 354, OECD Publishing, Paris
OECD (2022), "Policy guidance on consumer product safety pledges", OECD Digital
Economy Papers, No. 325, OECD Publishing, Paris
OECD (2022), "The role of online marketplaces in protecting and empowering
consumers: Country and business survey findings", OECD Digital Economy Papers,
No. 329, OECD Publishing, Paris
OECD (2022), "Dark commercial patterns", OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 336,
OECD Publishing, Paris
OECD (2022), "Measuring financial consumer detriment in e-commerce", OECD
Digital Economy Papers, No. 326, OECD Publishing, Paris
OECD (2021), "Implementation toolkit on legislative actions for consumer
protection enforcement co-operation", OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 310, OECD
Publishing, Paris


UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATIONS

Croatian


COMMITTEE(S)

Committee on Consumer Policy


DATE(S)/REFERENCE(S)

Adopted on 09/10/2024
DSTI/CP(2024)4/FINAL


RELATED INSTRUMENT(S)

Related to
OECD/LEGAL/0488
Declaration on a Trusted, Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Future
OECD/LEGAL/0459
Recommendation of the Council on Consumer Product Safety
OECD/LEGAL/0422
Recommendation of the Council on Consumer Protection in E-commerce
OECD/LEGAL/0403
Recommendation of the Council on Consumer Policy Decision Making
OECD/LEGAL/0356
Recommendation of the Council on Consumer Dispute Resolution and Redress


ADHERENTS

OECD MEMBERS

Australia

Australia





Austria

Austria





Belgium

Belgium





Canada

Canada





Chile

Chile





Colombia

Colombia





Costa Rica

Costa Rica





Czech Republic

Czech Republic





Denmark

Denmark





Estonia

Estonia





Finland

Finland





France

France





Germany

Germany





Greece

Greece





Hungary

Hungary





Iceland

Iceland





Ireland

Ireland





Israel

Israel





Italy

Italy





Japan

Japan





Korea

Korea





Latvia

Latvia





Lithuania

Lithuania





Luxembourg

Luxembourg





Mexico

Mexico





Netherlands

Netherlands





New Zealand

New Zealand





Norway

Norway





Poland

Poland





Portugal

Portugal





Slovak Republic

Slovak Republic





Slovenia

Slovenia





Spain

Spain





Sweden

Sweden





Switzerland

Switzerland





Republic of Türkiye

Republic of Türkiye





United Kingdom

United Kingdom





United States

United States





NON-MEMBERS

Argentina - 09/10/2024

Argentina

09/10/2024







Bulgaria - 09/10/2024

Bulgaria

09/10/2024







Croatia - 09/10/2024

Croatia

09/10/2024







Peru - 09/10/2024

Peru

09/10/2024







Romania - 09/10/2024

Romania

09/10/2024







Suriname - 09/10/2024

Suriname

09/10/2024







Thailand - 09/10/2024

Thailand

09/10/2024







Ukraine - 09/10/2024

Ukraine

09/10/2024







OTHER

European Union (EU) - 09/10/2024

European Union (EU)

09/10/2024







©OECD 2024
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03 Nov 2024