World Consumer Rights Day 2017 Address by Hon. Bradly Felix

March 15, 2017

Good evening fellow Saint Lucians.  

It is truly with immense humility that I address you as Minister with responsibility for Consumer Affairs, as Saint Lucia joins the International Consumer Movement in commemorating World Consumer Rights Day, observed on March 15th every year.  It was on this day in 1963, that former US President John F. Kennedy first addressed the issue of Consumer Rights to the US Congress and informed that consumer interest should be protected by the Federal Government. He further stated that: “The Federal Government has a special obligation to be alert to the consumer’s needs and to advance the consumers’ interests.”  Since then the world has continued to place focus on Consumer Rights, Consumer Protection, Consumer Policy and Consumer Legislation.  As we sign on to International and Regional Agreements, it requires that we not only move to vigorously protect consumers, but most importantly, we must ensure that our nation’s economy fairly and adequately serve consumers’ interests- for Consumer Rights Are Human Rights

This year 2017, World Consumer Rights Day is commemorated under the theme “Consumer rights in the digital age - Building a Digital World Consumers Can Trust”. The advent of digital technology has created unprecedented new opportunities for consumers to communicate, to access information, provided greater convenience and choice from a wider range of products and services. Connections between devices such as smart phones, smart televisions, fridges, stoves, vehicles and other objects are rapidly expanding and have become an almost natural part of our daily existence. Sometimes referred to as ‘the Internet of Things’, we are seeing the interconnectedness of and convergence of technology such as sensors embedded in more and more everyday objects like vehicles, utility meters, white goods, wearable fitness trackers or home security systems - making objects capable of sensing and remotely communicating with each other, with other users, with manufacturers or with some central computing system.

As we know, the first truly smartphone was released by Apple in 2007 and by the following year approximately 3.7 million had been sold. Apart from making calls, smart phones contain software that can record data, voice, video, motion, location and much more. Global projections suggest about 5.6 billion people will own a smartphone by 2019 - which will constitute about 73% of world population. A survey by a networking equipment company Cisco estimates that about 25 billion devices will be connected in the Internet of Things by 2032.

Undoubtedly, living in the digital or information age has tremendously enhanced the quality of living of many consumers of developing states like ours while at the same time exposing consumers to a number of challenges which, without action by governments, regulators and, action groups could undermine consumer confidence and trust in technology. The Internet of Things could be one of the most disruptive technologies consumers have ever experienced, as “everything that can be automated, will be automated” and become connected in a massive network of networks.

Since the emergence of the internet, the digital age has fundamentally been impacting consumer protection and our understanding of consumer rights in the digital environment. It has allowed consumers greater access to get their voices heard, provide feedback and yet at the same time is presenting challenges in the protection of those very fundamental consumer rights. Challenges related to internet access for many consumers who are not connected, how to improve the quality of services, which online services and products consumers can trust, obtaining redress for online transactions and what happens to the data that consumers share online.

It was the very president John F Kennedy who recognized that “the march of technology…has increased the difficulties of the consumer along with his opportunities… [it has] also outmoded many of the old laws and regulations and made new legislation necessary”.

Director of Consumers International, Amanda Long, in her Keynote address at the International Conference on Consumer Protection in the Digital Age in Thailand on 3rd April 2014 espoused that “Consumers in the Digital Age simply has to be at the heart of everything the consumer movement is about” and highlighted that consumer protection in the digital age must be about privacy and data issues; managing and protecting digital identities.

The digital world has exposed consumers to wider choices of goods and services, new suppliers and new geographical markets. Greater consumer choice, availability of new markets necessitates that consumers transacting in this digitized world exercise greater diligence and prudence in their purchasing decisions.

Today, in Saint Lucia, the number and rate of internet and cell phone users has soared from approximately 55,000 persons or 35.2% of the population in 2006 to approximately 142,000 persons or 89% of the population in 2010. What this points to is that there is an increasing number of consumers communicating with each other whether via social media, sending Short Message Service (SMS) text or WhatsApp messages, pictures, tweets or other forms of social media. Additionally, more consumers are engaging in cross border trade in goods and services as they have direct access to overseas markets thought the internet. All of this exposes a great number of vulnerable cyber shoppers to internet scams, identity theft, cyber-bullying, with little or no recourse in redressing. And we know all too well some of the horror stories of sensitive pictures being released on the internet or email and bank accounts being hacked, individual’s identities being stolen and other cyber abuses.

Consequently, there is need to strengthen the requisite structures (i.e) laws, policies and regulations, to protect the interest of our cyber shoppers as it relates to fair contract terms, secure payments, clear and accessible information, data security and data protection.

Mindful of the myriad of concerns, challenges and vulnerabilities of consumers transacting in the digital environment, the Government of St. Lucia, has enacted a number of critical pieces of legislation to protect consumer rights and interests namely the: Consumer Protection Act No 9 of 2016; the Privacy and Data Protection Act enacted in April 2011 and later amended in March 2015; the Cyber Crime Act enacted in April 2011; and the Electronic Transactions Act enacted in April 2011.

Although Saint Lucia has been the first within the OECS to enact Consumer Protection Legislation, we recognize that there is still need for the enactment of even more legislation and the adoption of policy and regulations as we collectively continue to build consumer confidence in the utility of the technology.

As minister with responsibility for consumer affairs, I want to urge that as we continue to communicate and transact in the digital world that we do so responsibly, safeguarding consumers’ welfare and interest; that the business community in recognizing their responsibilities, protect consumer data obtained and invest in security that would serve to build consumer confidence in the marketplace. With so much potential for consumer benefit and significant threats at play, I urge consumer organizations to build up their expertise on this issue so they can influence the private sector and government in building an economy that is fair, just and caters to the consumer needs of trust, confidence and consumer protection in the digital economy for the betterment of all.

I wish all Saint Lucians a happy World Consumer Rights Day. I thank you.

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