Today is the international day of consumer

Today is the international day of consumer rights and interests protection. Just yesterday, the 12 th vote at a meeting of the National People's Congress passed the "institutional reform and function transformation plan of the state council. "The plan" clearly: to better play the role of social forces in the management of social affairs, let the people through social organizations according to law for self management, self service and participate in social affairs management.

In fact, in 2012, the social organization registration management system reform has been pushing; As of February 19 provinces have carried out or try out the social organization registration directly, nine provinces devolved non-public foundation registration administrative authority, eight provinces devolved beyond the chamber of commerce registration administrative authority, four provinces conducted foreign registered pilot people-run non-enterprise units.

And the change of government function, gradually relaxing social organization registration, has close relationship with consumers' rights and interests protection.

Consumers need "3 · 15" because in the modern business system, relative to the businessman, consumer in terms of financial and material resources, and professional knowledge are at a disadvantage, so I need the inequality in reality of visible hand turn them in, the performance in the consumer protection laws related to the slope protection for consumers.

"Consumer rights and interests protects a law" in China given the consumer's right to know, the right to fair trading right and self organized. Self-organizing power significance lies in the unity of individual consumer power, forming resultant force, let consumer can orderly, safeguarding rights and powerful merchants fair game.

Past, consumer groups tend to be confined to local consumer protection association (commission), and even the protection of consumer rights and interests of civil society disappear assist a only, no branch. And according to the provisions of the elimination, consumer associations and other consumer organizations ", are goods and services for social supervision to protect consumers' legitimate rights and interests of social groups, disappear assist itself is not the legal monopoly. And "solution" is clear: to gradually promote decoupling industry associations, Chambers of commerce and the administrative authority, introducing competition mechanism, to explore raised up, so as to change the security administration tendency of industry associations, Chambers of commerce, enhance their autonomy and vitality.

Needless to say, at present is nominally civil society's help, is attached to the administrative department for industry and commerce business unit. Depends on the industrial and commercial administrative power, is to boost consumer advocates say, but disappear assist the town itself is serious, it is difficult to directly represent the grass-roots interests of consumers. And restricted by administrative organs in accordance with the law, administrative regulation, and between monopoly state-owned enterprises and the interests of the stumbles, some local departments of industry and commerce or consumer advocates for the rights of consumers behavior is often hamstrung. Last February, for example, industrial and commercial bureau of Harbin was launched to great fanfare "telecommunications charges not legal rules" action, the results anticlimactic, go away.

So, when the activist, consumers in addition to complain to the administrative organ, let functions play a due role, make officials "advocate" for the people, can take the path of indigenous rights at the same time, to get out of the passive situation. This need to relevant government departments on the one hand to broaden the folk consumer advocacy group registration, let them to disappear assist benign competition; Class action lawsuit system also needs to be activated on the other hand, in order to deter unscrupulous merchants.

Class action lawsuit is known as "the social function of the largest ever relief way", powerful private consumption rights protection organizations is an effective supplement to government regulation, help reduce government food safety regulation, environmental pollution treatment in recent years on issues such as some of the pressure. And that is exactly what civil self-management system advantage.

Last revision of the "civil procedure law" clearly defines the legal status of public interest litigation system: for infringes upon the lawful rights and interests harm social public interests such as many consumers behavior, organizations can bring a suit before a people's court. On substantive law, the law in our country have from the consumers' rights and interests protection act "refund to compensate one", "food safety" in the "loss of a compensate ten", progress to the "tort liability law" specific provision "punitive damages"; If on the program, to activate public welfare lawsuit system, customers can through disappear assist, or other self-management organization, easy start public interest litigation, real pain for unscrupulous merchants.

Chinese consumers are familiar with the old lady in the McDonald's coffee, get sky-high compensation cases after burns. And now, this kind of compensation for rarely happen in China. This is not, of course, McDonald's south orange north definite, but China's civil society organizations, the collective lawsuit system, the punitive compensation system is far from mature, not enough to effectively deter merchants.

All in all, in terms of consumers' rights, relevant government departments should be bold to delegate, abandon single administrative supervision mode, actively broaden the folk consumer advocacy group registration, make them orderly activist, appeal, launched a public interest litigation, to deter unscrupulous businessmen, monopoly, to form the consumer rights protection in one hand depends on the government administration according to law, hit the profiteers, the other with independent rights, merchants with game pattern of "walking on two legs", eventually reached the people work up and down, the benign interaction.