Think Global - towards International Consumer Law

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection, a document which remains as the only significant contribution to consumer law and policy at the international level. Although there are numerous evolved systems of consumer law around the globe, these have generally emerged either at the national level or within the confines of particular regional associations. Readers of the Journal of Consumer Policy (JCP) will be particularly familiar with the evolution of consumer law within the European Union, a topic which has attracted many contributions. Whilst the Journal of Consumer Policy also features contributions from other areas of the world, these have tended to be focused on particular developments in one country. What we have not seen is a consistent attempt to consider the international implications of consumer law and policy