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World Consumer Rights Day 2016 Activities

Each year on March 15th, we celebrate World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD). WCRD provides an opportunity for national and regional consumer organisations to draw attention to the important role that consumer protection policies and laws play in making societies safer and fairer. There is a greater awareness and demand by consumers for their rights to be respected and protected. In the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC) sets the minimum standards for consumer protection which Member States are expected to provide to their citizens under Articles 184 and 185 of the RTC. 

This year the theme for WCRD is “Antibiotics off the menu”. According to Consumers International (CI) antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health facing consumers today. If urgent action is not taken to tackle antibiotic resistance consumers could face a future where common infections and minor injuries can lead to death. CI is calling for global time bound commitments to end the routine use of antibiotics in human medicine, across all meat and poultry supply chains. In CARICOM, agencies with consumer protection mandates such as the CARICOM Competition Commission (CCC) and the Caribbean Agricultural Health and Food Safety Agency (CAHFSA) support consumer agencies and NGOs in warning of the dangers of antibiotic resistance to our health, and its impact on our food security as a region.

For the  list of activities in some of the Member States, please click here.