I. Objectives
1. Considering the interests and needs of consumers in all Member States, particularly those in developing countries, recognizing that consumers are often at a disadvantage in terms of economic capacity, education and bargaining power, and bearing in mind that consumers have the right to obtain safe products and to contribute to fair, equitable and sustainable economic and social development and environmental protection, the present Guidelines on Consumer Protection have the following objectives: 

(a) To assist countries in achieving or maintaining appropriate protection for their populations as consumers; 

(b) Promote production and sales models that can meet consumers' demands and aspirations; 

(c) Encourage high moral standards among producers and sellers of consumer goods; 

(d) Assist countries in combating all fraudulent business practices by enterprises that are detrimental to consumers at both the national and international levels; 

(e) Assist in the development of independent consumer groups; 

(f) Promote international cooperation in the field of consumer protection; 

(g) Encourage the development of market conditions to provide consumers with high-quality and affordable goods and services; 

(h) Promote sustainable consumption. 

II. Scope of Application
2. This Code applies to transactions between enterprises and consumers, including those where state-owned enterprises provide products and services to consumers. Within the scope of this Code, consumer protection policies include laws, regulations, rules, frameworks, procedures, decisions, mechanisms, and programs formulated by Member States to protect the rights and interests of consumers and promote their welfare, as well as private sector standards and recommendations. 

For the purposes of this Code, the term "consumer" generally refers to natural persons who consume primarily for personal, family or household purposes, regardless of their nationality, while recognizing that Member States may adopt different definitions to meet specific domestic needs. 

III. General Provisions
4. Member States shall formulate, strengthen and maintain strong consumer protection policies, taking into account the following guidelines and relevant international agreements. To this end, each Member State must determine its own consumer protection priorities based on its economic, social and environmental circumstances, as well as the needs of its people, and taking into consideration the costs and benefits of the proposed measures. 

5. This Code is intended to meet the following reasonable demands: 

(a) Consumers can obtain basic goods and services. 

(b) Protecting vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers; 

(c) Protect the health and safety of consumers from harm; 

(d) Promote and protect the economic interests of consumers; 

(e) Consumers have access to adequate information to enable them to make informed choices in accordance with their personal wishes and needs; 

(f) Conduct consumer education, including education on the environmental, social and economic consequences of the choices made by consumers; 

(g) Provide effective consumer dispute resolution and redress mechanisms; 

(h) Consumers have the freedom to establish consumer organizations and other relevant groups or organizations, and these organizations have the opportunity to express their views in the decision-making processes that affect them. 

Promote sustainable consumption patterns; 

(j) Provide protection for consumers using e-commerce to a degree no less than that provided to consumers using other forms of business; 

(k) Protect consumer privacy and the free flow of global information. 

6. Unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, especially those in industrialized countries, are the main cause of the continuous deterioration of the global environment. All Member States should strive to promote sustainable consumption patterns; developed countries should take the lead in achieving sustainable consumption patterns; developing countries should strive to achieve sustainable consumption patterns in the course of their development, while taking into due account the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. The special circumstances and needs of developing countries in this regard should be fully considered. 

Policies promoting sustainable consumption should take into account the goals of eradicating poverty, meeting the basic human needs of all members of society, and reducing inequalities within and among countries. 

8. Member States should provide or maintain appropriate infrastructure for the formulation, implementation and monitoring of consumer protection policies. Special attention should be given to ensuring that consumer protection measures are implemented to benefit all segments of the population, especially rural people and the poor. 

9. All enterprises should comply with the relevant laws and regulations of the countries where they operate. They should also abide by the appropriate provisions of internationally recognized consumer protection standards as approved by the competent authorities of the relevant countries (for the purposes of this Code, references to international standards should be construed in accordance with this paragraph). 

When formulating consumer protection policies, the potential roles that universities and public-private enterprises can play in research should be taken into account. 

IV. Principles of Good Business Practices
11. When establishing benchmarks for best business practices in conducting online and offline commercial activities with consumers, the following principles should be followed: 

(a) Treat consumers fairly and impartially. Enterprises should be fair and honest in all stages of their relationship with consumers, and this should be an integral part of their corporate culture. They should avoid practices that harm consumers, especially those that harm vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers. 

(b) Business conduct. Enterprises must not adopt illegal, unethical, discriminatory or deceptive practices towards consumers, such as offensive marketing strategies, rough debt collection methods or other improper behaviors that may cause unnecessary risks or harm to consumers. Enterprises and their authorized agents should appropriately consider the interests of consumers and take it as their responsibility to protect consumers. 

(c) Information Disclosure and Transparency. Enterprises should provide complete, accurate and non-misleading information on goods and services, terms, conditions, related charges and final costs, enabling consumers to make informed decisions. Enterprises should ensure that such information is easily accessible regardless of the technical means used, especially the information on key terms and conditions. 

(d) Education and awareness-raising. Enterprises should, as appropriate, develop programmes and mechanisms to assist consumers in obtaining the necessary knowledge and skills to understand various risks, including financial risks, to make informed decisions and to obtain competent and professional advice and assistance when needed, preferably from independent third parties. 

(e) Protecting privacy. Enterprises should protect consumers' privacy when collecting and using their personal data through various measures, such as control, security, transparency and consent mechanisms. 

(f) Consumer complaints and disputes. Enterprises should provide complaint handling mechanisms to enable consumers to resolve disputes promptly, fairly, transparently, inexpensively, conveniently, effectively, without causing unnecessary costs or burdens. Enterprises should consider adopting domestic and international standards involving internal complaint handling, non-litigious dispute resolution methods, and customer satisfaction codes. 

V. Principles
12. The following principles shall apply to products and services produced domestically and imported. 

When adopting any procedures or regulations for the protection of consumers, due consideration should be given to ensure that they do not become barriers to international trade and are in line with international trade obligations. 

A. National policies for protecting consumers' rights and interests
14. Member States should formulate consumer protection policies that encourage the following behaviors: 

(a) Good business conduct; 

(b) Provide clear and timely information to facilitate consumers and enterprises to get in touch and enable regulatory and law enforcement authorities to identify and locate the enterprise. This may include information such as the enterprise's identity, legal name, business name, main entity address, website, email address or other contact methods, phone number, government registration or license number, etc. 

(c) Clear and timely information about the goods or services provided by the enterprise, as well as the terms and conditions of the transaction; 

(d) Clear, concise, easy-to-understand and fair contract terms; 

(e) Transparent transaction confirmation, cancellation, return and refund procedures; 

(f) Secure payment mechanism; 

(g) Fair, affordable and expeditious dispute resolution and redress mechanisms; 

(h) Consumer privacy and data security; 

(i) Consumer and business education. 

Member States should strive to ensure that consumer protection enforcement agencies have the necessary human and financial resources to promote effective compliance with relevant regulations and to provide consumers with redress where appropriate or to facilitate its provision. 

B. Personal Safety
16. Member States shall take or encourage the taking of appropriate measures, including legal systems, safety regulations, national or international standards, voluntary standards and the keeping of safety records, to ensure that products are safe for their intended use or for any use that is normally foreseeable. 

17. Appropriate policies should be in place to ensure that products manufactured by manufacturers are safe for their intended or normally foreseeable uses. Those responsible for bringing goods to the market, including suppliers, exporters, importers, retailers, etc. (hereinafter referred to as "distributors"), should ensure that the goods under their care do not become unsafe due to improper storage or handling, and do not cause harm due to improper storage or handling. Instructions on how to use the goods correctly should be provided to consumers, informing them of the risks involved in the intended or normally foreseeable uses. Key safety information should be communicated to consumers as far as possible using internationally recognized symbols. 

18. Appropriate policies should be in place to ensure that manufacturers and distributors promptly notify the relevant authorities and the public, as appropriate, of any unforeseen hazards that are identified after a product has entered the market. Member States should also consider how to ensure that consumers are appropriately informed of such hazards. 

19. Member States should, as appropriate, adopt policies providing that where a product is found to have serious defects and/or to pose a major or serious hazard even when used correctly, the manufacturer and/or distributor should recall the product for replacement or improvement or for substitution with another product; and if this cannot be done within a reasonable time, the consumer should be appropriately compensated. 

C. Promoting and Protecting Consumers' Economic Interests
20. Member States should seek to enable consumers to obtain the maximum benefit from their economic resources. They should also strive to achieve the following objectives: satisfactory production and performance standards, appropriate distribution methods, fair business practices, marketing methods that provide useful information, and effective prevention of practices that may harm consumers' economic interests and their ability to exercise choice in the market. 

21. Member States should intensify their efforts to ensure that manufacturers, distributors and other parties involved in the provision of goods and services comply with existing laws and mandatory standards to prevent practices that harm the economic interests of consumers. Consumer organizations should be encouraged to monitor various bad practices, such as food adulteration, false or misleading marketing and service fraud. 

22. Member States should, as appropriate, formulate, strengthen or maintain measures to control restrictive and other business practices that may be harmful to consumers, including by providing for their enforcement. In this regard, Member States should follow the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for Control of Restrictive Business Practices adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 35/63 of 5 December 1980. 

23. Member States should adopt or maintain policies that clearly define the responsibilities of manufacturers to ensure that goods meet reasonable requirements of durability, usability and reliability, and are suitable for their intended purposes, and that the seller ensures that these requirements are met. Similar policies should also be adopted in the provision of services. 

24. Member States should encourage fair and effective competition so as to provide consumers with the widest possible range of products and services at the lowest cost. Member States should ensure that their consumer protection policies are not used to shield domestic enterprises from competition or are applied in an unfair manner. 

25. Member States should, as appropriate, ensure that manufacturers and/or retailers provide adequate and reliable after-sales service and spare parts. 

Consumers should be protected from contractual frauds such as standard contracts that favor one party, the exclusion of basic rights in contracts, and unreasonable credit terms provided by sellers. 

27. Promotional and sales practices should be guided by the principle of fair treatment of consumers and should comply with legal requirements. This requires providing necessary information to enable consumers to make informed and independent decisions, and taking measures to ensure the accuracy of the information provided. 

28. Member States should encourage the free flow of comprehensive and accurate information concerning consumer products among all relevant parties. 

29. Consumers should be encouraged to obtain accurate information on the environmental impact of products and services through the provision of product profiles, industry environment reports, consumer information centers, voluntary and transparent eco-labeling schemes, and product information hotlines. 

30. Member States should work closely with manufacturers, distributors and consumer organizations to take measures against misleading environmental claims or information in advertising and other marketing activities. Appropriate advertising regulations and standards should be encouraged to be developed to regulate and verify environmental claims. 

31. Member States should, within their own national conditions, encourage enterprises to cooperate with consumer organizations in formulating and implementing marketing codes and other business practices to ensure adequate protection of consumers. Voluntary agreements may also be concluded among enterprises, consumer organizations and other relevant parties. Such codes should be widely publicized. 

32. Member States should regularly review legislation related to weights and measures and assess whether the enforcement mechanisms are appropriate. 

D. Safety and Quality Standards for Consumer Goods and Services
33. Member States should, at the national and international levels, as appropriate, develop or promote the development and implementation of voluntary standards and other standards for the safety and quality of products and services, and disseminate them appropriately. National standards and regulations on product safety and quality should be reviewed from time to time to ensure that they are as consistent as possible with internationally recognized standards. 

34. If the standards adopted are lower than the internationally recognized ones due to local economic conditions, efforts should be made to raise the local standards as soon as possible. 

35. Member States should encourage and ensure the provision of facilities for testing and certifying the safety, quality and performance of basic consumer goods and services. 

E. Distribution facilities for basic consumer goods and services
36. Member States should, as appropriate, consider: 

(a) Adopt or maintain policies to ensure the efficient distribution of products and services to consumers; where appropriate, specific policies should be considered to ensure that basic products and services are distributed in areas where distribution is hindered, especially in rural areas. Such policies may include assisting in the establishment of appropriate storage and retail facilities in rural centers, encouraging consumer self-help, and enabling them to better understand the conditions for providing basic goods and services in rural areas; and 

(b) Encourage the establishment of consumer cooperatives, engage in relevant transaction activities, and collect information in this regard, especially in rural areas. 

F. Dispute Resolution and Remedies
37. Member States should encourage the establishment of fair, effective, transparent and impartial mechanisms to handle consumer complaints, including cross-border cases, through administrative, judicial and alternative dispute resolution methods. Member States should establish or maintain legal and/or administrative measures to enable consumers or relevant organizations to obtain remedies through prompt, fair, transparent, inexpensive and accessible formal or informal procedures. These procedures should particularly take into account the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged consumers. Member States should provide consumers with means of obtaining remedies that are cost-free, not unduly delayed, do not cause unnecessary economic loss, and do not impose excessive or inappropriate burdens on society and business. 

38. Member States should encourage all enterprises to resolve consumer disputes in a rapid, fair, transparent, inexpensive, convenient and informal manner, and establish voluntary mechanisms that can provide assistance to consumers, including consultation services and informal complaint procedures.