Translated using ChatGPT service.
Jurģis Miezainis, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Economics, representing Latvia at the OECD Consumer Policy Committee (CPC) Ministerial Meeting in Paris (France), along with representatives from a total of 55 countries, signed the Declaration on Strengthening Consumer Protection in the Digital and Green Transition.
“Despite the clear economic benefits and the vast potential of digitalization, technological progress not only brings new opportunities for consumers but also presents new challenges. Therefore, there is a pronounced need for comprehensive consumer information and empowerment,” emphasized J. Miezainis during the meeting.
Digital markets have provided many advantages to consumers, including easy access to goods and services worldwide. However, they have also exposed consumers to significant harm, such as misleading and fraudulent business practices that manipulate consumer decisions.
“In today’s global era, especially when consumers can order and purchase various goods not only from the Latvian market but also from other countries within and outside the European Union, several challenges arise in how to protect consumer rights when they have possibly purchased low-quality or unsafe products.
At this ministerial meeting, countries exchanged views and best practices, and a collective commitment was made to improve existing regulations and strengthen international cooperation.
Looking toward the future and sustainability, we must ensure that all consumer goods are repairable, and that manufacturers produce their goods in a way that they last longer and are of high quality. One of the commitments in the Declaration is to address manufacturers directly, ensuring product repairability and access to resources. This is particularly important in the rapidly developing digital sector,” noted J. Miezainis.
The Declaration highlights that consumer well-being should be a priority for both businesses and government policy. It recognizes the need for sound consumer policies and their enforcement to address the challenges of the digital and green transitions.
In the discussion, J. Miezainis pointed out that robust policy instruments must be used to address existing issues. “It is impossible to achieve effective results by trying to ban or restrict everything. We must create opportunities to extend product life cycles and ensure the availability of repair options for manufactured products. Latvia supports effective, simple, and clear solutions that do not impose new administrative burdens on businesses, and we must motivate entrepreneurs to produce safe and sustainable products that can be repaired throughout their life cycle,” said the Latvian representative.
More information on the outcomes of the OECD Consumer Policy Ministerial Meeting and the text of the Declaration can be found on the website www.oecd-events.org/consumer-policy-ministerial/en. For more details on the OECD’s consumer policy work, visit www.oecd.org/en/topics/policy-issues/consumer-policy.