Consumer protection is not a new phenomenon. Ever since the eighteen century, consumers have protested against the abuses of the market. They have boycotted products, protested against the abuses of the market and promoted notions of fair and honest trade. Anwar Fazal, a leading consumerist, has suggested that the Hittites of Anatolia from the 18th century B.C. as the earliest defenders of consumer interest. They had developed a consumer code – thou shall not poison their neighbour’s fat (oil). This meant that food should be safe, clean and wholesome.
When the pioneers of the modern consumer movement began to get organised at the turn of the 20th century, they were driven by a vision for economic and social injustice. The push for this vision was at that time born out of trade union activism in the United States. One of the earliest such groups, the U.S. National Consumers’ League organised consumer boycotts against child labour and other inhuman conditions which consumer products were made. The modern consumer movement as an international force began in the 1930’s in the United States with the establishment in 1936 of Consumers’ Union.
After the Second World War, the free market began to flourish in industrialised economies and consumers were flooded with an abundant array of goods and services. The consumer movement began to focus on issues of pricing and profiteering, and questions of safety and choice of goods and services in the marketplace. This wave of consumerism responded to the growing needs of a consumer society. When the organised consumer movement expanded from the U.S. into Europe, campaigns against unfair market practices began to mobilise support for the movement.
In the 1950s various consumer movements emerged in Europe and began comparative testing magazines. They included Test in Germany, Which? in United Kingdom and Que Choisir in France. These movements essentially focused on undertaking comparative testing between products and providing information for consumers to get best value for money.
In 1960 several of the consumer organisation throughout the world came together to form the International Organisation of Consumers Union (IOCU), now called Consumers International. IOCU saw itself as the facilitator of organised consumerism across the world.
In the post-war period as the consumer movement expanded in the west, there was also concerns of the issue of poverty and access to goods in the low income countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In recognition of these concerns, some mainstream western groups provided financial support for the initial growth of consumer associations in Asia. From the 1970s the Third World consumers began to get organised.
On 15th March 1962, when the US President John F. Kennedy moved the Bill of Rights in Congress, he recognised consumers as an important economic group in the American economy. The four rights that were recognised by Congress were the right to safety, the right to choice, the right to information and the right to be heard.
However, the developing countries had differing concerns and views of consumers’ rights and in 1983, saw the expansion of the 4 consumer rights to eight consumer rights – the right to basic needs, the right to redress the right to consumer education and the right to a safe and healthy environment.
The first World Consumer Rights day was celebrated in 1983, when the 8 consumer rights were announced.
In 1985, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection. The guidelines represent an international regulatory framework for governments to strengthen consumer protection nationally.
In South East Asia, consumerism first emerged in the Philippines in March 1963. Soon after in 1965, consumerism reached Malaysia. In 1965, the Selangor Consumers Association (SCA) was formed. SCA played an active role in bringing consumerism to the states. In 1969, the Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) was formed.
In 1973, several state based consumer associations formed the national umbrella consumer organisation, the Federation of Consumers Associations of Malaysia (FOMCA). FOMCA fundamentally focuses on consumer advocacy, consumer empowerment, complaints handing and consumer research.
