The following is issued on behalf of the Consumers International, a federation of consumer organisations dedicated to the protection and promotion of consumer interests worldwide. The press released is sent out internationally at a press conference held in Seoul, South Korea, today (December 3). The press conference is chaired by Mrs. Pamela CHAN WONG Shui, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council, in her capacity as the President of Consumers International.
World consumer leaders, from some 20 countries and representing different regions, meeting in Seoul, South Korea, call on the international community, to step up their efforts at addressing the growing global economic crisis. What started off as an East Asian financial crisis in 1997 is now, a 'financial turbulence' in the world economy.
Specifically, Consumers International calls for a three-fold set of measures.
First, Consumers International calls upon governments and multilateral institutions to reinforce their commitment to addressing the social cost of the current crisis. The tens of millions of poor and the newly poor of East Asia are not the only victims of financial turmoil. The crisis had cost the world economy $260 billion by mid-1998, even before the sudden collapse of the Russian economy, a run on Latin American equities and currencies, and the sharp stock market corrections in the United States and Europe. What all this means is that the world economic shock of 1997-1998 is likely to produce considerably higher levels of joblessness and poverty world-wide. Up to one billion of the world's three-billion-strong workforce will be either without a job or under employed in the year ahead.
For Consumers International, the social cost of the crisis amounts to a serious compromise on one of the primary rights of all consumers - i.e. the right to satisfaction of basic human needs. As such, we also call on Governments to ensure adequate consumer protection policies for times of crisis.
Governments and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and IMF must step up their collaborative efforts at the economic recovery process. In so doing, however, serious attention needs to be given to the restructuring of the international financial system. Since the collapse of the Bretton Woods Agreement there is no adequate framework of international financial regulation. That has contributed to and aggravated the still unfolding crisis. An effective system of aid is also urgently needed to help affected economies recover. The recent 6th APEC Leaders Summit, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 16th to 18th November 1998 has also called for similar measures to strengthen the international financial architecture. Governments, on their part, with the help of multilateral institutions, should implement appropriate stimulative fiscal and monetary policies to arrest the economic downward spiral.
Third, Consumers International calls upon multilateral and regional trade and investment bodies such as the WTO, APEC, NAFTA, and OECD, to review the liberalisation packages and their impact on economies affected by the crisis. We are especially concerned about the WTO, with its rule-based system of promoting free trade, and the proposed 'millennium round' of trade talks. Accelerated and ill-designed financial liberalisation had played a major role in the current crisis. Similarly, any push for trade liberalisation must be preceded by serious consideration of the negative implications on affected economies, and liberalisation must involve civil society participation.
Leaders of Consumers International, a federation of consumer organisations dedicated to the protection and promotion of consumers interests world-wide, are meeting in Seoul for a conference on The Economic Crisis and the Role of the Consumer Movement. The on-going crisis is contributing to a very real and immediate setback in social and economic development for many countries and their peoples. The long-term consequences are even more troubling with the global recessionary trends, national government cutbacks on social spending, worsening unemployment and wage cuts, exacerbating social conflicts and impact of unforeseen natural disasters.
The social costs of the crisis are not mere statistics but an absolutely unnecessary human tragedy.
For further information please contact:
Ms. F. Josie, Regional Director, CI ROAP
Dr. Michael Chai, Trade & Economics Officer, CI ROAP
Tel.: 604-229 1396
Fax: 604-228 6506
E-mail: ciroap@pc.jaring.my
Dr. Vo Kyung Song
Citizens' Alliance for Consumer Protection Korea (CACPK)
KPO Box 411, Pierson Bldg, Room 603
89 Sinmun-ro 2 ga, Chongro-Ku
Seoul 110, Korea
Tel.: 82-2-739 5441
Fax: 82-2-736 5514
E-mail: cacpk@chollian.net
Issued by
Consumer Council
on behalf of the Consumers International