Consumers International

Consumers International is a global not-for-profit membership organization for independent consumer groups. It works to strengthen consumer protection, coordinate international advocacy, share research and practical knowledge, and promote policies intended to make markets safer, fairer and more accountable. The organization was established on 1 April 1960 as the International Organization of Consumers Unions, commonly abbreviated as IOCU. Its creation reflected the growing need for national consumer organizations to cooperate across borders on product testing, information exchange and common policy concerns. The organization emerged from an international consumer-testing meeting held in The Hague in January 1960. The meeting brought together 34 representatives from 17 consumer organizations in 14 countries. Five organizations became the initial founding members or sponsors of the new international body: Consumers Union of the United States, the United Kingdom's Consumers' Association, the Netherlands' Consumentenbond, Belgium's Association des Consommateurs and the Australian Consumers' Association. Elizabeth Schadee, who later chaired the board of Consumentenbond, and Caspar Brook, the first director of the Consumers' Association, were central to proposing the international conference and the new organization. Consumers Union also provided initial financial support for the conference at the request of Colston Warne. Consumers International operates as a membership network rather than as a conventional commercial brand. Its members are independent consumer organizations, and the network has been described as comprising more than 250 organizations in about 120 countries. Approximately two-thirds of its members are located in economically developing countries, with the remainder in industrialized countries. The organization maintains its head office in London and has regional activity or offices serving Latin America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Its work has included international campaigning, policy advocacy, consumer education, standard-setting cooperation and engagement with intergovernmental institutions. Areas associated with its historical work include the marketing of infant formula, access to safe and rational medicines, product safety, consumer rights, corporate accountability and protection against market abuses. Through the International Baby Food Action Network and Health Action International, it helped connect consumer organizations with public-interest and health advocates on issues that crossed national boundaries. Consumers International also helped establish the modern international observance of World Consumer Rights Day. The date, 15 March, recalls John F. Kennedy's 1962 articulation of consumer rights. Consumer organizations began observing the day in 1983 after consumer advocate Anwar Fazal proposed it as an annual occasion for solidarity, public education and advocacy. Each year, member organizations use the occasion to highlight a selected consumer issue and to call for basic consumer rights to be respected. The organization has also worked with the International Organization for Standardization on standards intended to address global challenges and holds General Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. This status allows it to participate in relevant United Nations processes. Consumers International's present role is therefore best understood as that of an international civil-society network: it represents consumer interests in policy debates, supports its members and promotes coordinated action on issues that individual national organizations cannot address effectively alone.

Consumers International was created during the expansion of organized consumer advocacy after the Second World War, when national consumer organizations were increasingly conducting product tests, publishing comparative information and pressing governments to improve market protections. These groups recognized that many issues could not be handled effectively within one country. Product manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and food businesses were operating across borders, while consumer organizations often lacked mechanisms for exchanging evidence and coordinating campaigns. Elizabeth Schadee and Caspar Brook proposed bringing consumer-testing organizations together in an international forum. In January 1960, Consumers Union of the United States, the United Kingdom's Consumers' Association and the Netherlands' Consumentenbond sponsored the First International Conference on Consumer Testing in The Hague. Thirty-four people representing 17 organizations from 14 countries attended. Belgium's Association des Consommateurs and the Australian Consumers' Association also joined the founding group. The conference led to the establishment of the International Organization of Consumers Unions, or IOCU, on 1 April 1960. Schadee later chaired the board of Consumentenbond, while Brook became the first director of the United Kingdom's Consumers' Association. Consumers Union supplied initial support for the meeting at the request of Colston Warne. In its early period, IOCU concentrated on strengthening cooperation among consumer organizations, facilitating the exchange of product-testing methods and information, and encouraging the development of consumer movements in countries where organized consumer representation was still limited. Over time, its membership expanded beyond the industrialized countries that had supplied many of the original organizations. The network came to include a substantial majority of members from economically developing countries, giving the organization a broader geographic and policy remit. A significant part of this evolution involved health-related advocacy. In 1979, IOCU and other civic organizations helped form the International Baby Food Action Network, known as IBFAN. The network campaigned against marketing practices that it regarded as discouraging breastfeeding and contributing to unsafe or inappropriate reliance on bottle-fed formula in economically developing countries. Its activities included international advocacy and consumer boycotts directed at companies whose promotional practices were considered harmful. These efforts contributed to the World Health Assembly's adoption of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes, an early international attempt to regulate marketing in this field. In 1981, Consumers International was also involved in founding Health Action International, an informal network of consumer and public-interest organizations focused on the safe, rational and economical use of medicines. At the 41st World Health Assembly in 1987, Health Action International organized lobbying for stronger controls over pharmaceutical advertising. These initiatives illustrated the organization's shift from a narrow focus on comparative product testing toward broader questions of public health, regulation and corporate conduct. The name Consumers International came to represent this wider role. The organization developed into a membership network with more than 250 independent consumer organizations in approximately 120 countries, supported by a London head office and regional activity in Latin America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. It also hosts or works with the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue, a forum through which United States and European consumer organizations develop policy recommendations for the United States and European Union. World Consumer Rights Day became one of the organization's most visible public-facing activities. The annual 15 March observance was proposed by Anwar Fazal and first observed by consumer organizations in 1983. The date recalls John F. Kennedy's 1962 statement that consumers constitute the largest economic group but are often insufficiently heard in economic decision-making. World Consumer Rights Day provides a recurring platform for member groups to educate the public, campaign for stronger protections and draw attention to market abuses and social injustice. Consumers International is structured as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. It has developed formal relationships with international institutions, including cooperation with the International Organization for Standardization and General Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Its history is consequently one of network-building: it has connected national consumer groups, supported transnational campaigns and brought consumer concerns into global health, trade, standards and regulatory discussions.

• 1983

  World Consumer Rights Day begins

  [1]Consumers Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  Consumer organizations began observing 15 March as an annual day for consumer-rights advocacy and public education.

• 1981

  Health Action International co-founded

  [1]Consumers Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  Consumers International helped create an international network focused on safe, rational and economical use of pharmaceuticals.

• 1979

  International Baby Food Action Network formed

  [1]Consumers Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  IOCU and allied civic organizations helped establish IBFAN to campaign against harmful marketing and promotion of breast-milk substitutes.

• 1960

  International consumer-testing conference held in The Hague

  [1]Consumers Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  Thirty-four representatives from 17 organizations in 14 countries met to improve cooperation among consumer-testing bodies and plan an international organization.

• 1960

  International Organization of Consumers Unions established

  [1]Consumers Internationalen.wikipedia.org

  The organization was founded on 1 April as the International Organization of Consumers Unions, later known as Consumers International.

A global, non-commercial advocacy network that coordinates independent consumer organizations and represents consumer interests in international policy, regulatory and standards discussions.

• International advocacy initiative · 1983

  World Consumer Rights Day

  An annual consumer-rights observance held on 15 March. It gives consumer organizations a shared occasion to promote basic consumer rights, criticize market abuses and mobilize public and policymaker attention around a selected theme or policy concern.

• Advocacy and policy service · 1960

  Consumer policy advocacy

  Consumers International coordinates member organizations and represents consumer interests in international policy discussions. Its work covers consumer protection, health, product safety, standards, market fairness and corporate accountability.

• Membership network · 1960

  International member network

  The organization connects independent consumer groups across approximately 120 countries. The network supports knowledge exchange, coordinated campaigns and participation in international regulatory and intergovernmental processes.

• 1987Pharmaceutical advertising controls

  Global

  Through Health Action International, a network co-founded by Consumers International, consumer and public-interest groups lobbied delegates at the World Health Assembly for stronger controls over pharmaceutical advertising.

  Outcome. The initiative placed medicine promotion and rational pharmaceutical use on the international public-health agenda.

  Source
• 1983World Consumer Rights Day

  Global

  Consumers International and consumer organizations worldwide use 15 March to promote consumer rights, public awareness and solidarity against market abuses and social injustices.

  Outcome. The observance became an annual international platform for consumer advocacy.

  Source
• 1979International Baby Food Action Network

  Global · Developing countries

  Consumers International's predecessor and allied organizations helped establish IBFAN to challenge marketing practices surrounding breast-milk substitutes. The campaign used international advocacy and consumer boycotts and focused on the health effects of aggressive or misleading promotion of infant formula.

  Outcome. The campaign contributed to the World Health Assembly's adoption of the International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes.

  Source

• 1981

  Build a global medicines-policy coalitionStrategy

  Background

  Consumer and public-interest groups sought safer, more rational and more economical use of pharmaceutical products.

  Action taken

  Consumers International helped co-found Health Action International.

  Aftermath

  The coalition supported international advocacy, including lobbying for stronger controls on pharmaceutical advertising at the World Health Assembly.

  Source

• 1979

  Expand into international public-health campaigningStrategy

  Background

  Consumer advocates raised concerns about infant-formula marketing and its potential consequences for breastfeeding and infant health.

  Action taken

  IOCU joined other civic groups in forming the International Baby Food Action Network.

  Aftermath

  The network's campaigning helped build support for an international code governing the marketing of breast-milk substitutes.

  Source

• 1960

  Create a permanent international consumer networkStrategy

  Background

  National consumer organizations needed to exchange testing knowledge and coordinate responses to cross-border commercial practices.

  Action taken

  The founding organizations established the International Organization of Consumers Unions after the international conference in The Hague.

  Aftermath

  The organization later expanded its remit and adopted the Consumers International identity.

  Source

1. 1Consumers Internationalen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Consumers International official websiteconsumersinternational.org