Consumer protection

Recommendation 705 (1973)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

[1]. Assembly debate on 17 May 1973 (7th Sitting) (see Doc. 3280,report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development). Text adopted by the Assembly on 17 May 1973 (7th Sitting).

The Assembly,

1. Considering the report of its Committee on Economic Affairs and Development on ''A Consumer Protection Charter" (Doc. 3280) ;

2. Believing that consumer protection is a field of activity perfectly in keeping with the aims and role of the Council of Europe, and that international cooperation should be further developed in this field,

3. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

a urge the member States of the Council of Europe to implement, each in accordance with its own traditions, the principles of consumer protection set out in the "Consumer Protection Charter" appended to its Resolution 543 (1973) ;

b develop intergovernmental work in the Council of Europe on the protection of the consumer as an individual in European society, inspired by the principles set out in the above-mentioned Consumer Protection Charter, with regard to the following specific matters :

the provision of national and local consumer advice services ;

the recognition and application of voluntary codes of fair trading practices ;

appropriate measures to ensure an adequate after-sale service ;

abusive or dubious commercial practices ;

the role and fields of action of voluntary and semi-public consumers' organisations ;

the need for international coordination and standardisation, in particular the establishment of the maximum permissible levels of chemical contaminants in foodstuffs for human consumption ;

c provide the Assembly with a comprehensive report on :

the progress made in its various intergovernmental activities relating to consumer protection, and in particular on the implementation in Council of Europe member States of the relevant resolutions adopted by the Committeeof Ministers, including those adopted in the framework of thePartial Agreement in the social and public health field ;

the implementation of the principles of the Consumer Protection Charter in Council of Europe member States ;

d examine the possibility of drawing up a European Convention on Consumer Protection turning to account some of the principles of the Consumer Protection Charter and the experience gathered by intergovernmentalcooperation.