Responsible Consumer Relations

Every company providing goods or services to consumers or clients have responsibility towards them. Responsible relations with the consumers is an important component of any company’s corporate social responsibility. 

Consumer rights protection and respect is regulated by legislations of many countries, and any responsible company has a primary obligation to strictly comply with the national legislation requirements. 

In addition, there have been developed numerous non-obligatory self-regulating instruments and sectoral or international standards that define basic consumers’ rights and company’s responsibilities towards consumers. 

One of the most important documents in this field is the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection, formulating internationally recognized consumer rights, as well as the principles of sustainable consumption and responsible consumer relations. 

According to the main international standards, the company’s responsibility to its consumers encompasses the following main principles:

Protection of the consumer main rights required by the national legislation or international standards

Safety of products and services throughout their life cycle

Creating consumer support service, and complaints and dispute resolution mechanisms in the company

Identification of consumer needs and taking reactive steps

Providing precise, trustworthy and understandable information on the product packaging, and in the accompanying instructions and service contracts

Ethical and fair advertisement and marketing communication, provision of trustworthy and unbiased information

Consumer personal data protection and privacy

Promoting sustainable consumption

Ensuring consumer access to essential products and services

Consumer education and awareness rising

To find out more, please see:

• International Standards on Consumer Rights Protection and Product Responsibility >