The 44th ISO COPOLCO Plenary met recently to discuss strategies to empower consumers for a more sustainable future
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has reaffirmed its commitment to incorporating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its standards programme and to giving vulnerable stakeholders most affected by climate change a voice in its standards and policy work.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) recently hosted its 44th ISO COPOLCO Plenary, from May 23-26, 2023 in New Delhi.
During her keynote address, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Nidhi Khare, mentioned, “We have made significant improvement in the area of consumer protection in recent years. Also, robust consumer grievance redressal systems have been developed to help fast-tracking resolution of such matters.” She emphasised the importance of keeping sustainability as a major concern in standardising, saying, "Manufacturers should ensure that products are designed for sustainability parameters, and they can also be partners in the process of reducing e-waste."
Mamta Upadhyay Lal, Additional Director General, BIS, emphasised BIS's efforts and initiatives. She stated that, “BIS has taken up a wide range of initiatives, such as Manak Manthan, Quality Connect etc., which are aimed at enhancing consumer engagement in standardisation.”
Sadie Dainton, Chairperson, COPOLCO, expressed her gratitude to all member countries for their ongoing engagement and commitment to raising consumer stakeholders' awareness of the value of consumer protection standards, as well as for engaging and involving consumers in the development of credible and robust standards that address real problems faced by real people, by outlining best practices for organisations to minimise the risk of harm to consumers.
According to ISO officials who attended the event, the 44th COPOLCO Plenary was a success in terms of empowering consumers for a sustainable future through in-depth discussions and the exchange of national and international experiences on the challenges that consumers face when making sustainable choices and promoting the development of the circular economy.
The plenary of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Committee on Consumer Policy (COPOLCO) is the flagship annual event of the multilateral organisation in the area of consumer engagement. ISO boasts 168 countries as members and holds a range of sensitive meetings of stakeholder groups, committees, and communities with the objective of strengthening the process of standardization and enhancing consumer participation across the globe.
As per the participants and delegates, people-centric approach and themes such as ‘Challenges and Good Practices for Consumer Engagement’; Empowering Consumers for a Sustainable Future; Consumer Protection and Legal Frameworks; have made this year's plenary particularly important for the international community.
The plenary also featured dialogue sessions, workshops, and interactive sessions on various themes related to consumer matters. During the workshops, groups of representatives of various countries were formed where they exchanged views, information, experiences etc.
During the event's first session, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles, addressed a gathering of foreign delegates and representatives of international and national consumer welfare organisations. Apart from the Minister, other dignitaries included Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Sergio Mujica, ISO Secretary General, and other higher officials of ISO and standards organisations from various countries.