after reading a thread elswere, im interested in finding out if the Consumer Action Group are, or will be getting involved in this new EU directive as reported by theReg ?
who is looking after the consumers interests and their direct POV for inclusion in this 13 week consultation on its plans to implement the directive?.
this directive has got far more and wider implications for the consumer powers than the top heavy unfair selling and marketing methods it focuses on and you might dismiss it out of hand unless you look closer.
are the retailers going to be left to dilute this directive to the point were its in affect null and void
or even made into something for the companys benefits only, and the UK users are left with nothing substantial?.
UK mulls blanket ban on unfair commercial practices | The Register
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UK mulls blanket ban on unfair commercial practices Asks retailers for input
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Published Tuesday 12th June 2007 10:03 GMT
The Government
has asked retailers to comment on draft legislation that will force them to "deal fairly" with customers and other businesses.
Two new regulations are proposed, scheduled
to come into force on 6 April 2008.
The new rules implement an EU Directive, the
Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCP). That directive is designed to outlaw unfair practices across the business spectrum, replacing current sector-specific laws.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has announced a 13 week consultation on its plans to implement the directive.
"Consumers ought to be dealt with fairly by business – whether they shop at home, online or in the high street," said the DTI's consultation document. "Sharp marketing practices not only harm consumers but also respected companies who lose out if the activities of their unscrupulous competitors are left unchallenged. They also affect consumer confidence in markets."
The government intends to create two new sets of regulations, one protecting consumers from unfair business dealings and the other protecting businesses from misleading marketing.
A breach of the rules will in most cases be a criminal offence. In addition to a fine, directors and managers could be sentenced to up to two years in prison."
...
"
Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations
The draft Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2007 impose a blanket ban on unfair commercial practices. They state that a misleading action or misleading omission will amount to an unfair commercial practice.
A commercial practice becomes a misleading action, and therefore a criminal offence, if it:
- "Contains false information and is therefore untruthful […] or if it or its overall presentation in any way deceives or is likely to deceive the typical consumer […], even if the information is factually correct; and
- causes or is likely to cause the typical consumer to take a transactional decision he would not have taken otherwise." "
and the EU document needs much reading and again from the users perspective.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...05L0029:EN:NOT
"e) "to materially distort the economic behaviour of consumers" means using a commercial practice to appreciably
impair the consumer's ability to make an informed decision,
thereby causing the consumer to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise;
...
h) "professional
diligence" means the standard of special skill and care which a trader may
reasonably be expected to exercise towards consumers, commensurate with honest market practice and/or the general principle of
good faith in the trader's field of activity;
...
(j) "
undue influence" means
exploiting a position of power in relation to the consumer so as to apply pressure, even without using or threatening to use physical force, in a way which significantly limits the consumer's ability to make an informed decision;"
Will CAG get involved with this unfair commercial practice(DTI) 13 week consultation 
