Research project NO/A/005 (Research action NO)
The project
Standardisation, by seeking to establish technical specifications of products and services, serves the vital interests of consumers and therefore plays an important role in improving their quality of life. Thus, respecting standards makes it possible to increase the safety and quality of products and services and to reduce the negative impact the latter can have on the environment and health.
The objectives of this study were to identify the interests and the specific needs of Belgian consumers with regard to standardisation of products and services, to determine the possibilities and resources at their disposal to realise their interests within the process of standardisation, and to formulate possibilities for taking better account of consumer interests within the standardisation policies implemented at the Belgian, European and international levels.
Expected products and results
The interests and the needs of Belgian consumers fundamentally cover two types of concerns: those relating to the identification of the technical areas of standardisation which are of interest for consumers, and political concerns relating to the stakes of the standardisation policy for consumers and the participation of consumers in standardisation.
The consumer actors
The interests of consumers are captured via a survey conducted in Belgium among a group of organisations (federal, regional and community-based). All of these conduct actions relating to consumer protection and standardisation.
These organisations constitute important potential human resources for representing the interests of consumers in standardisation. They belong to one of the five following institutional categories:
- consumer organisations,
- health and safety education and continuing education organisations,
- research and study centres,
- public and para-public administrations,
- consultative and advisory bodies.
The survey results are supplemented by other useful sources of information: bibliographical analysis of the pertinent technical, policy and legal literature and the concrete experience of the CRIOC in representing the interests of consumers in standardisation.
The technical priorities of Belgian consumers for standardisation primarily concern consumer safety and health, environmental protection, the services sector and the information which accompanies products and services.
With regard to protection of safety, the priorities of the consumers focus on:
- the safety of more vulnerable population groups, such as children, the elderly and handicapped persons,
- the prevention of serious accidents, such as carbon monoxide poisoning, fires, drownings, etc.,
- safety during sports and leisure activities (including DYI and gardening activities).
With respect to health protection, the areas of concern stressed by consumers are allergenic products, hazardous domestic products, parapharmaceutical products and food and drinks.
The priorities of consumers with respect to the environment and standardisation concern ecological labelling and the quality labelling of products and taking environmental aspects into account in product standards.
In the area of services, the consumers lack points of reference to assess the quality of proposed work, and thus expect a great deal from standardisation.
Finally, standardisation goes hand in hand with consumer information and certification. Consumers expect clarification with regard to the mass of information accompanying a product: information on the characteristics and use of the product or service, information on the conformity of the product to standards, labels and commercial claims.
Participation of consumers in Belgian standardisation.
Comparison of the priority technical areas for Belgian consumers with the BSI's programme of technical works reveals that the programme takes relatively little account of the interests of consumers.
In Belgium, consumer participation in standardisation remains limited. This situation can be at least partially explained by the lack of financial support from public authorities and the absence of a formal relay structure between the world of consumers and standardisation.
The main difficulties which Belgian consumers encounter when they seek to participate in standardisation are political, economic and structural in nature. In Belgium, there is no real policy in favour of the standardisation of consumer goods.
Recommendations for better taking account of the interests of Belgian consumers in standardisation.
A series of recommendations are formulated for eliminating the difficulties encountered by Belgian consumers, so as to ensure effective participation in standardisation and better take their interests into account.
These recommendations essentially concern the use of resources to federate and coordinate the action of consumer actors, to create a structure of consultation and technical relay between consumer actors and standardisation, to inform and train potential consumer experts in standardisation, to inform and raise the general public's awareness of standards and certification.
These recommendations fit within the framework of an overall policy of consumer protection in which standardisation constitutes one tool among others, necessitating coordination and greater coherence among the various levels of competencies on this subject.
