Consumers Unite: You have nothing to lose but your inhibitions

Consumers International 20th World Congress moderator, and former BBC World News presenter, Nisha Pillai, reflects on her Congress experience.

I made a shame-faced confession at last month’s Consumers International World Congress in balmy Brasilia – in front of seven hundred consumer activists from round the world, the admission that I had never heard of their organisation.  But that state of ignorance isn’t going to last much longer I suspect. For under the dynamic leadership of its new Director General, Amanda Long, this hitherto somewhat retiring organisation is leaping into the global limelight. Look out for Consumers International!

The CI Congress in Brasilia was the first conference I’ve moderated where Panel Discussions were banished in favour of  Interactive Discussions. So why did ditching the word ‘panel’ for ‘interactive’ matter? Well, what happened was that all the plenary sessions positively encouraged contributions from the delegates – not just questions but comments too – rather than the token few minutes reserved for questions from the floor at most conferences. 

This really made a difference to the way delegates took ownership of the discussions and turned each plenary session into a giant conversation in the airy plenary hall. Indeed my confession popped out during an especially free-flowing  and energetic plenary  on how consumers associations can work together to have more impact globally. This is a key existential question for consumers associations at a time when their traditional MO is under threat from  web-based peer-exchange platforms. 

During the course of the next two days there was a palpable shift – or so it seemed to me – in favour of more collaborative engagement at an international level, as championed by Marta Tellado from the US, Bart Combée from the Netherlands, Alan Kirkland from Australia and so many other voices from the floor. Was this shift in thinking linked to the interactive, democratic style of the Congress? I’d like to think so.

Especially striking was the emphatic endorsement by the Congress of  two pretty radical moves by CI into the arena of international campaigning. The first, the launch of a ‘People’s Charter for the Internet’ aims to harness the lobbying power of several hundred consumer associations to ensure that the promise of the internet is not exploited by giant multinationals. 

The second campaign came as a complete surprise to everyone at the Congress, an ambitious effort spearheaded by CI to get the three largest fast food chains McDonalds, Subway and KFC to stop the use of antibiotics in their meat and chicken. Again the aim is to use the lobbying power of hundreds of consumers associations round the world to pressure these giant restaurant multinationals to respond to an issue of huge international concern.

So I’ll end by saying good luck to CI and its efforts to create a more powerful voice for consumers round the world. After all, rich or poor, we’re all consumers one way or the other.

Gerd Leonhard video on 'Consumer empowerment in the networked society'

Gerd Leonhard, CEO of The Futures Agency, addresses the Consumers International World Congress on 'Consumer empowerment in the networked society'. Hong Kong, 5 May 2011.

Gerd Leonhard looks at the power of networks to facilitate activism, as well as commerce. In a fascinating lecture he explores the power of Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and other social media tools, and considers future trends in consumer activity, communications and advocacy.

Anwar Fazal on consumer rights; past, present and future

Anwar Fazal's closing lecture 'Consumer rights: past, present and future'. Consumers International 19th World Congress, 5 May Hong Kong 2011.

Finally, consumers are being heard on financial protection: Robin Simpson

CI’s senior policy adviser, Robin Simpson, reflects on the growing influence of the consumer movement within the global debate on financial services.

Robin Simpson at CI World Congress 2011

CI must be doing something right. On Thursday 9 June we are invited to the Gilded Gallery of the Banque de France in Paris to present our views on measures for consumer protection in financial services as set out in our 2011 World Consumer Rights Day publication:

Safe, Fair and competitive markets in financial services: recommendations for the G20 on the enhancement of consumer protection in Financial Services. 

The invitation came from the Comite Consultatif du secteur financier, the independent consultative committee on financial services which brings together industry and consumers (64 members in all) under the same roof on an equal basis. Our French members UFC-Que Choisir and Confederation Consommation, Logement et Cadre de Vie both sit on this committee and have argued with some success for reforms such as improved disclosure of terms of credit agreements and bank charges, fairer charging systems. Our colleagues from BEUC (Bureau Europeen des Unions de Consommateurs) will be taking part, so with our French members in the room too we will not be a lone voice for once.

Why us, why now? During 2011 France has the presidency of the G20 which made a commitment to strengthen consumer protection in FS at the 2010 summit in Seoul. The French have taken this commitment seriously and Mme Christine Lagarde the Minister of Finance (and now candidate to take over as head of the IMF) sent a filmed message of support to CI’s World Congress in Hong Kong just last month. 

Thanks to the support of our expert members, CI got off to flying start in putting forward our views early in the year to the OECD and the Financial Stability Board, the two bodies who are jointly charged with preparing the programme of reform.

The first draft of ‘high level principles’ has already been prepared by OECD and we have commented on that welcoming the work so far but highlighting key gaps in relation to tackling the increasing complexity of many financial products, the need to tackle the causes of consumer over indebtedness and the promotion of competition. As the OECD will also be present in the meeting we can comment again! Thanks to the good offices of our French members, we have received the invitation to meet the French presidency and now the consultative committee too.

We have already presented evidence to the joint task force of the OECD and FSB, and to the Consumer Policy Committee of the OECD. And the staff of the OECD and FSB were exposed to the consumer movement in all its glory in Hong Kong when they came to take evidence direct from members in two sessions, the first a closed session of the CI members organisations that contributed to the policy paper and the other, an open meeting, very well attended. 

However, despite these efforts by the secretariats of these international organisations, there is a serious issue regarding the process at national level. A dangerous vacuum has become apparent among the national jurisdictions that make up the G20.

The financial regulators know little about consumer protection; we know that because they have told us so. And the consumer protection agencies are kept away from financial services by their Treasuries and central banks; we know that because they have told us so as well. It was, therefore, not surprising when,  at the Consumer Policy Committee of the OECD, not a single national consumer protection agency raised a question on this issue of financial financial consumer protection... 

So who is speaking for consumers in these international discussions? Well us and BEUC for a start, but we need allies in government. We intend to raise this issue at the Paris meeting on Thursday. So far the French presidency shows every sign of listening.

CI World Congress Video: Niall Dunne 'Empowering people through the communications revolution'

Niall Dunne speaks to delegates from across the globe at Consumers International World Congress 2011 in Hong Kong. Dunne talks about 'activating the masses' and refers to Martin Luther King, Obama and Chavez. In the video, Dunne also names other periods in time as "mega trends", such as the Renaissance, the Englightenment, Space Race and Information Age. He cites the 'communications revolution' as the next mega trend and why it will be different from previous mega trends. More .

Delegate interviews - CI World Congress 2011

Delegates at CI World Congress 2011 gave their views on the Hong Kong event and their expectations for the future.

Video interview: Anwar Fazal at CI World Congress 2011

Former President of CI Anwar Fazal delivered a rousing speech at the CI World Congress 2011. Here, he talks about the values the consumer movement should be focusing on.

Consumers International World Congress - Day 4 roundup and election results

New CI President, Jim Guest

US consumer rights chief Jim Guest was elected as President of Consumers International (CI) at the General Assembly meeting of Consumers International World Congress in Hong Kong. He replaces outgoing President Samuel Ochieng.

Mr Guest called on the global consumer movement “not to take 'no' for an answer” as he outlined his campaigning vision. He accepted the presidency after an uncontested election.

You can find Jim Guest's biography as well as the complete list of elected CI Council members here.

The General Assembly meeting and the election of a new Council and President concluded the 19th CI World Congress, which was held in Hong Kong for a second time. More than 700 delegates representing 60 countries took part in a lively debate that reaffirmed the need to empower consumers, as the theme of the Congress indicated.

On his first address as CI President, Jim Guest quoted Martin Luther King, saying, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Outlining his intentions, Mr Guest said: “Consumers International must play to its strengths: its diversity, its passion and its persistence. CI is in the campaigning business for the long haul, and needs to be the kind of organisation that does not take 'no' for an answer."

He went on to say that the balance of economic power in the world was too weighted against consumers in relation to corporations, and it was CI's job to fight for the balance to be shifted.

 

Jim Guest, who will serve a four-year term, is also the CEO of Consumers Union of United States, publisher of Consumer Reports and previously the Vice President of CI. He is joined on the CI Council by the heads of 13 other national consumer organisations, also elected at the CI World Congress General Assembly.

This includes Shirish Deshpande, head of Indian member Mumbai Grahak Panchayat (MGP), for the first time, along with representatives from Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America.

Mr Guest concluded by thanking the Hong Kong Consumer Council for hosting a successful CI World Congress 2011.

More highlights from CI World Congress

Summaries

Food sessions (3a, 5 and 6a)

Session 9c - Empowering advocacy: Communicating consumer rights

Session 11c - Empowering legislation: a guide to consumer protection law

Session 12 - Consumer rights: past, present and future 

More videos

Luke Upchurch, Head of Media and External Affairs, Consumers International

Jonathon Hanks, Academic, University of Cape Town

Rehan Saiyed, Director, Storm Design, New Zealand

Delegates' views

Daily roundups

CI World Congress - Day 1 roundup

CI World Congress - Day 2 roundup

CI World Congress - Day 3 roundup

Summaries: Food sessions (3a, 5 and 6a)

Summaries by Anna Glayzer

Sub-plenary session 3a: National campaigning on junk food marketing included presentations from Anna Glayzer of Consumers International on two new CI resources for campaigning against food marketing aimed at children. The session also heard presentations from Bart Combée about the national work on food marketing of Consumentenbond, Netherlands and Dr Vokyung Song of Consumers Korea, South Korea.

Plenary session 5: Safe and nutritious food for all was chaired by food policy expert Jean Halloran from Consumers Union, USA. The session heard presentations from Jørgen Schlundt, Deputy Director of the National Food Institute in Denmark; Alan Jope, Head of the Chinese division of Unilever; and Alejandro Calvillo, Director of CI member El Poder del Consumidor  (Consumer Power), Mexico. The speakers looked at how major global issues in food safety and nutrition will affect 21st century consumers. A lively Q&A session followed, including discussion on the issue of genetically modified food.

Immediately following the food plenary session, Sub-plenary session 6a was an Interactive workshop on food safety with input from Jean Halloran, Indrani Thuraisingham and Jørgen Schlundt. The session provided a chance for members to have a say in how and where we focus our energies. Discussions touched on CI’s international campaigning work with Codex Alimentarius, and how project work can be used to strengthen national food safety systems.

Delegates' views - CI World Congress 2011

As the 19th CI World Congress in Hong Kong drew to a close, delegates spoke about the problems consumers are facing in their countries.

You can watch the video here

Video interview: Rehan Saiyed at CI World Congress 2011

Rehan Saiyed of Storm Design, New Zealand, explains the philosophy behind the logo of the CI World Congress, which he designed.

Summary: Session 12 - Consumer rights: past, present, and future

A summary by Anna Glayzer of:

Session 12 (Plenary) Consumer rights: past, present, and future
 
Thursday 5 May 2011 - 4pm - 5.30pm
Anwar Fazal, civil society leader and former CI President
Gerd Leonhard, CEO, The Futures Agency



In the final plenary session former CI president Anwar Fazal gave an inspiring 45 minute speech charting the history of the consumer movement and setting out his vision for an ideal consumer movement based on an "Intergalactic Commission."  He stressed the importance of strengthening the movement by developing new leaders and building extensive networks.  Futurist Gerd Leonhard picked up the theme of networks in his speech on how new communication technologies and social media will transform the way markets and consumers operate.  He urged consumer groups to stay ahead by making the most of social media, viral concepts, and sharing information.

Summary: Session 9c - Empowering advocacy: Communicating consumer rights

A summary by Pat Onoapoi of:

Session 9c - Empowering advocacy: Communicating consumer rights 

Thursday 3 May 2011, 11.30am-12.30pm
Luke Upchurch, Head of Communications and External Affairs, Consumers International
Rehan Saiyed, Director, Storm Design, New Zealand

Communication is a key part of the work of consumer organisations. The session was on how powerful communications tools can be. There is now a blurring of the boundaries between grassroots action and global advocacy as well as between consumers and producers and this is due to communication tools which are pamphlets, campaign films, publications, social media etc. The power of social media lies in the number of people using it so we need to be using it as consumer organisations. See www.carrotmob.org  for examples of how consumer activists are using social media tools to effect change and to make a real impact. By joining them consumer organisations will get a profile and can then start a campaign. Carrotmob are giving over their technology to effect change.

Storm Design (New Zeeland) also gave a presentation on the design of the Congress logo. According to them, the criteria for good graphic identity are: the form and concept should work very well with product/service it’s designed for, should be pragmatic, simple, bold and distinctive.

The design brief and elements for the Congress logo included Yin Yan (represents consumer rights), dragon dance( reflects energy of the congress) Hong Kong, future consumers, circle.

Questions and comments from members:

·         Has a cost/benefit analysis been carried out on using social media?

·         The whole concept of Carrotmob is offensive and promotes corruption

·         People who want to subvert the system also use social media so consumer organisations should use it carefully

·         One of the best communicators is Chaz Davies of creative defiance.  Consumer organisations can learn from this model. Chaz could provide mentoring in communication graphics

·         ‘The story of stuff’ puts consumer issues into graphics. Consumer organisations should map out creative people and work with them

Video interview: Luke Upchurch at CI World Congress 2011

Luke Upchurch, Head of Media and External Affairs, Consumers International.

Summary: session 11c - Empowering legislation: a guide to consumer protection law

A summary by Robin Simpson of:

Session 11c: Empowering legislation: a guide to developing consumer protection law 

Thursday, 5 May, 2011, 2.30pm - 3.30pm
Indrani Thuraisingham, Antonino Serra Cambaceres and Robert Michel, Consumers International 
Chaired by Robin Brown (Australia)

The presentation of CI’s work on CP legislation showed three contrasting methods of work on what the chair Robin Brown described as the daily reality, the hard grind, of CP as opposed to the more high flown notions in circulation during the Congress. A common theme was how CI’s thinking had evolved from the ‘model law’ approach that was prevalent during the 1990s, towards a more targeted and varied approach.

Antonino Sera Cambacerres from the CI Latin America/Caribbean office described a five country study on over-indebtedness Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and Peru which culminated in  proposals for personal bankruptcy legislation to develop four year plans for  realistic management of household’s debts, with scope for Alternative Dispute Resolution. Such legislation is under active consideration in several countries including some outside the project area such as the Dominican Republic, and already exists in countries as varied as France and Colombia. The research was funded by the Avina Foundation.

Indrani Thuraisingham from the CI office for Asia/Pacific explained how proposals for CP legislation  in her region had developed a checklist approach explicitly drawing upon the UN guidelines for benchmarking draft legislation rather than upon using model legislation as a template. This approach had been used in the ten ASEAN countries and under a project funded by UNIDO in Bangladesh and was currently being used in training for preparation of legislation in Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia that were only now  replacing their ‘antiquated’ legislation based on weights and    measures and price controls. 

Robert Michel from the CI Africa office described the new “Guide to developing CP law” , released for the Congress emerging from a project funded by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. As in Latin America, CI in Africa had evolved a model law during the ‘90s but the ‘template’ approach was being replaced by a checklist drawn up by the author Jami Solli in the light of conditions in Africa. An all embracing single model law for CP needed to be replaced by one which took into account the development of sectoral legislation and regulatory institutions in recent years. The important thing was not whether a single CP law included all aspects of consumer needs but whether all consumer needs were taken into account in the general body or legislation. 

Video interview: Jonathon Hanks at CI World Congress 2011

Jonathon Hanks, Academic, University of Cape Town.

Consumers International World Congress - Day 3 roundup

Consumers can be empowered, and consumer organisations can make sure this happens through sharing and networking, speakers at the 19th Consumers International World Congress in Hong Kong said. The programme of the Congress finished on Thursday evening, and on Friday the global consumer body will hold its General Assembly and Council elections. 

In his closing remarks, CI President Samuel Ochieng, emphasised "our ability to shape our future," ending the event on a positive note. Acting Director General, Helen McCallum, showed, in her remarks, the real excitement of the last few days.

Earlier, CI Vice President, James Guest, who is also President and CEO, Consumers Union of United States, delivered a keynote address on one of the key themes of the Congress: "The fight for fair financial services - a battle our movement must win".

Guest had this message for delegates and consumers around the world: "If you're wondering whether you, as an individual or through your organisation, can really make a difference in a David versus Goliath battle against the power of special interests, you already know the answer — yes, you can. The banking lobbyists are rich and powerful, and they spend a lot of money trying to buy influence. But there is one important asset that they lack and we have: people power. In the end, although it will be a hard and difficult fight, I believe that people power - mobilised by the over 220 members of CI - will eventually win.

"That’s because our cause and our stories and our passion are real. We fight for change, not because we are well-heeled lobbyists paid to do so, but because we care about our lives and the lives of our children, our neighbours, our countrymen, and citizens of the world - today and tomorrow, for this generation and the next."

Other highlights:

In a video message to the CI World Congress, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, that currently holds the presidency of the G20, said that the "G20 called for action on behalf of consumers, and with OECD I am working to protect consumers of financial services". She expressed the view that "consumers should be participants in the process of ensuring their own security," and admitted that "at the time of the crisis we did not focus enough on consumers in the first instance". Christine Lagarde said she remained "interested in the proposals developed for consumer protection and involvement following a successful CI Congress".


Gerd Leonhard, CEO of The Futures Agency, attracted a lot of interest with his views. Consumer organisations must network to have greater impact, they must share and publish; this is how you engage and enable others, he suggested. The difference between MTV and YouTube is the difference between 'the network' and networked, he said.

"'When five billion people are on the internet within a few years, the power of the consumer will be greater than ever," Gerd predicted. 

We use social media/mobile phones to 'review' services, and corporations are paying attention, he added and noted that with broadband culture "everything known to man will be copied".

Former CI President Anwar Fazal delivered a rousing speech, which resulted in a standing ovation from the audience. He said that "in a world of big power, big media... networking is the new democracy". 

Fazal added: ''CI is a force for social justice, we can do it, we must and we will!' He warned consumer organisations to "train new people or you will have no future," and noted that we "must not allow modernity to replace fundamental human connections".

On the subject of copyright and access to knowledge, David Hammerstein, TACD IP adviser, said: "We are not against copyright, we are for a more direct relation between artists and consumers".

CI's Dr Jeremy Malcolm added: "We want to support authors but not outdated regulation". He also argued that "unbalanced copyright and IP laws hurt consumers not pirates".

We aim to have A2K included in UN guidelines on consumer protection, Malcolm said.

Go to www.a2knetwork.org to comment on draft UN guidelines for A2K.

Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, Centre for Internet & Society, argued that fake mobile phone innovators in China are not pirates but "enablers of connectivity in the developing world".

Sue Rutledge, Coordinator for Global Program on Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy, World Bank, thanked Consumers International and HKCC for tackling the issue of financial services. She said that "all financial services providers should enable consumer redress," and that she "would like to see consumer ogranisations play an active role in protecting consumer financial protection".

Interviews

A number of speakers at CI World Congress have been interviewed by young TV journalists from Hong Kong City University involved in covering the event. Check the following videos:

Samuel Ochieng, President, Consumers International 

Helen McCallum, Acting Director General of Consumers International

James Guest, CI Vice President - President and CEO, Consumers Union of United States 

Connie Lau, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Consumer Council

Sue Rutledge, Coordinator for Global Program on Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy, World Bank

Niall Dunne, Former Managing Director Saatchi & Saatchi Sustainability

Guido Adriaenssens, Chief Executive, International Consumer Research & Testing (ICRT), Belgium 

You can also watch:

CI World Congress gala dinner

Day 3 - Morning sessions highlights

Video interview: Helen McCallum at CI World Congress 2011

Helen McCallum, Acting Director General of Consumers International.

Radio interview: Gerd Leonhard, CEO Futures Agency

Gerd Leonhard, CEO Futures Agency, spoke to the HK Today programme of RTHK on Thursday, ahead of his presentation at the CI World Congress.

Leonhard told the programme what consumers have to watch out for in this digital world.

Listen to the interview here

Radio interview: CI Vice President James Guest

Consumers International Vice President James Guest, who is also President and CEO, Consumers Union of the United States, spoke to the HK Today programme of RTHK on Thursday.

Guest explained why the theme of his speech to the CI World Congress, "The Fight for Fair Financial Services - A Battle Our Movement Must Win", is so important.

Listen to the interview here