General Corporate

1. Regulation of the President No. 49 of 2024 on the National Strategy on Consumer Protection

Enforcement Date: 3 April 2024

Summary:

• While the newly introduced 2024 National Strategy on Consumer Protection (“2024 National Strategy”) retains the majority of sectors that were originally stipulated as priority consumer protection sectors under the previous 2017 - 2019 National Strategy on Consumer Protection (“2017 National Strategy”), the 2024 National Strategy has now expanded the list of priority sectors through the inclusion of tourism and creative economy. Moreover, the 2024 National Strategy has also introduced the supporting sectors classification, which encompasses the e-commerce and logistic services sectors.
• Both the 2017 National Strategy and the 2024 National Strategy (collectively referred to as “National Strategy”) state that the National Strategy comprises three main pillars that relate to the strengthening of various consumer protection functions. These three pillars break down as follows: 1) Strengthening the effectiveness of the roles of government and agencies; 2) Strengthening consumer capabilities; and 3) Strengthening the compliance of business actors. In this regard, the 2024 National Strategy has identified various strategic issues that specifically relate to each of the above pillars and their respective mitigation strategies.
• The National Strategy serves as a set of guidelines for use by relevant stakeholders (e.g. government ministries and/or agencies, business actors and the general public) during the implementation of consumer protection. Additionally, the 2024 National Strategy will also now serve the following additional purposes: 1) Expediting the organization of consumer protection within certain determined priority sectors; 2) Improvement of consumer capabilities in terms of optimum decision-making and the understanding of preferences and available options during transactions; and 3) Support for the strengthening of domestic demand.
• For more information, see ILB No. 4853.

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