UN Establishes Principles for Consumer Product Safety, Emphasizing Standards and Cooperation

The United Nations General Assembly issued the first-ever United Nations Principles for Consumer Product Safety, affirming the right of all consumers to safe, non-hazardous products in line with the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection. The principles offer a global framework centered on standards development, international cooperation, and shared responsibility between businesses and public authorities.

The principles acknowledge that product safety builds trust in markets, reduces societal costs, and supports economic development, and standards play a central role. The framework calls on UN member states to:

• Participate in and encourage the development of product safety standards
• Consider existing standards when developing safety policies
• Promote standards development and implementation at regional and international levels
• Encourage the availability of testing and certification facilities, including through bilateral and regional cooperation
• Collaborate on joint testing procedures and mutual recognition of test results

The principles emphasize cooperation at multiple levels: They encourage member states to establish systems for timely communication of product safety information between authorities and stakeholders; to use platforms that enable rapid sharing of information on unsafe products across borders; and to bring together all stakeholders to discuss safety issues, share risk data, and coordinate responses.

Read more in the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) news item.