Expose market abuse on World Consumer Rights Day

By Zhao Xiao (chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2017-03-15

Officers from a local law enforcement department tell citizens about methods to identify pirated books and discs at a square in Yuquan district, Hohhot on March 14. [Photo/nmgnews.com.cn]

Officers from Hohhot's law enforcement department organized an activity telling locals methods of judging counterfeit goods and regulations on food and health drugs.

The event aimed to expose pirated works and counterfeit goods at a square in Yuquan district, Hohhot on March 14. It was held in part to mark World Consumer Rights Day, which falls on March 15.

World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) has an opportunity to promote the basic rights of all consumers, demanding that those rights are respected and protected, and a chance to protest against market abuses and social injustices which undermine those rights.

WCRD was inspired by President John F. Kennedy, who gave an address to the US Congress on March 15, 1962, in which he formally addressed the issue of consumer rights.

He was the first world leader to do so, and the consumer movement now marks that date every year as a means of raising global awareness about consumer rights.

The first WCRD was observed on March 15, 1983, and has since become an important occasion for mobilizing citizen action.

The theme for World Consumer Rights Day 2017 is "Building a Digital World Consumers Can Trust". Consumers International has been working with partners and organizations across the world to campaign for better online consumer rights.

As part of an e-commerce boom in China’s society, illegal fake products have been flooding online markets where loopholes spread.

China's administrations of supervision and law enforcement are battling against intellectual property infringement and counterfeiting, hoping to finally make progress.

Officers explain laws and regulations about food and drugs to locals in Hohhot on March 14. [Photo/nmgnews.com.cn]