The annual theme of 2021 focuses on environment protection and sustainable consumption.
Consumers International (CI) announces the theme of this year’s “World Consumer Rights Day” as “Tackling Plastic Pollution”, and calls on consumer organizations around the world for global change to tackle plastic pollution.
Plastic is a highly useful material in everyday life, but our consumption and production of plastics, especially single-use plastics, are now unsustainable - leading to a global plastic pollution crisis. This is impacting our ecosystems and our health.
Consumers are increasingly concerned about plastic pollution and already taking action. Systemic marketplace change is required at all levels in society to make tackling plastic pollution and sustainable consumption the easy choice for consumers. Making more sustainable alternatives available, accessible and affordable, building effective recycling infrastructure, and ensuring that consumers have the information they need to make informed choices are only some of the ways that this can be achieved.
This year’s Consumer Rights Day focuses on 7Rs: Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair and Replace. Consumers can re-evaluate their consumption habits to minimize plastic use, refuse unnecessary plastic where possible and demand more sustainable alternatives from businesses, reduce the amount of plastic they purchase and dispose of, extend the lifetime of plastic products by reusing them, dispose of plastic waste appropriately by following local recycling guidelines, repair items and appliances where possible, and replace plastic products or packaging with more sustainable alternatives.
In November 2019, the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) introducedthe “Restrictions on the Provision of Plastic Bags”. Retail outlets have to charge consumers MOP1 for each plastic carrier bag and those providing plastic carrier bags free-of-charge to customers will be fined MOP1,000 for each free bag they give out. The local government now prohibits the import and trading of disposable polystyrene takeaway boxes, bowls, cups and dishes from 1 January 2021 as well. The Consumer Council is also working with DSPA to promote the “Recognition Plan of Eco-Supermarkets” to encourage waste reduction and recycling among the industry as well as sustainable consumption habits of consumers.
The Consumers International is an independent and non-governmental organization, with over 200 Member organizations in over 100 countries, Macao Consumer Council became a full member of the CI in 1997.
China’s annual theme “Safeguarding safety of products to enable smooth consumption”
China Consumers Association (CCA) announces its annual theme for World Consumer Rights Day 2021 as “Safeguarding safety of products to enable smooth consumption”, proposing safety as the fundamentals of smooth consumption. The CCA requires consumer organizations nationwide to protect the legal rights and safety of consumers; due to the widespread and rapid development of new consumption patterns, consumers’ needs are easily satisfied, but market order and the consumption system will be destroyed if patterns are developed disorderly. To safeguard safety and smoothness of consumption, the CCA is committed to promote high quality development of consumers on a safe track, providing power for a high-level economic circulation in order to achieve both smooth domestic and international economic cycles.
The Macao Consumer Council co-operates with various consumer protection organizations in the Mainland to safeguard consumer safety, co-testing of products and close collaboration with consumer organizations within the Greater Bay Area encourage consumer confidence and encourage orderly integrated development in the Area.