World Consumer Rights Day is an annual occasion for celebration and solidarity within the International Consumer Movement. More importantly, it is a time for promoting the basic rights of consumers, for demanding that those rights be respected and protected, and for protesting the market abuses and social injustices which undermine them. Monday, March 15, 2011 was designated World Consumer Rights Day which was celebrated under the theme ‘Consumer for fair financial services’. Around the world, focus was placed on highlighting consumer issues in relation to financial services. This year, Consumers International (CI), which represents 220 consumer organizations in 115 countries, has developed a set of international recommendations for strengthening consumer financial protection as part of its initiatives. The development of these recommendations is a direct result from evidence drawn from CI’s worldwide membership who consistently report poor financial services as one of the top areas for which consumer complaints are made. The recommendations developed will highlight what can be done to support fairness, safety, access and competition in financial services.
According to Consumers International Director General, Joost Martens: “There are as many bank accounts in the world as there are adults, and 150 million new consumers join the market for financial services every year. Yet consumers around the world – in both rich and poor countries – are continuing to get a raw deal from banks and other financial service providers.”
The Director General believes that these ground-breaking recommendations are the product of a shared sense of anger within the consumer movement and that the rights of financial consumers have been neglected for too long. He believes the recommendations provide a clear and comprehensive set of demands for significantly improving financial protection for consumers everywhere. Among the many recommendations, there is the call for a new international organisation to support work on financial consumer protection, and the need for mandatory financial consumer protection bodies including national regulators with full authority to investigate halt and remedy violations of consumer protection law. Other areas addressed in the recommendations include clearer contracts, charges and practices, effective redress and dispute resolution, measures to promote stability and safety of consumers’ deposits and investments, competition in financial services, better information design and disclosure, and universal access to basic financial services. Finally, as the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) joins with all Consumer Organisations and Consumers in Guyana to celebrate another World Consumer Rights Day, it is important that we all recognize our roles, responsibilities and rights as we strive to ensure that throughout the year, quality goods and services are provided to consumers.
For further information please contact the GNBS on telephone numbers: 219-0069, 219-0065, 2190062
