Consumer defense, or consumer protection, refers to the rights of consumers to be protected against wrongful conduct by businesses, including misleading or deceptive advertising, and to receive the information and services they need to make good market decisions. Generally, these rights are based on three basic tenets: the right to safety, the right to be informed, and the right to choose.
These tenets are backed by laws and regulations that govern the activities of all businesses, including manufacturers and distributors of goods and services. For example, companies that sell commercial scales and raw eggs must meet specific quality standards and are inspected by the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA).
The right to be informed is a fundamental consumer protection right. The government must provide consumers with the facts they need to make informed choices about what they purchase, and they should be given the chance to voice their concerns when necessary.
We must also remember that it is the consumer who determines whether economic activity flourishes or not, and that this often depends on whether the consumer can trust producers to deliver high-quality products and services at reasonable prices. This is why it’s essential for manufacturers to invest in quality controls and a robust consumer defense program, so that the company’s products and services are consistently of good quality and safe for use.
In fact, these protections are an important component of the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection, adopted in 1985. The Guidelines set international legal principles that protect consumers’ rights to be free from arbitrary and discriminatory practices by businesses, including marketing or sales practices that are harmful or damaging to health, the environment or property.
A good consumer defensive stock should help investors during periods of volatility in the economy because regular consumption of these companies’ products and services can create stable demand even when other sectors have slumped or gone through ups and downs. Some examples of companies that fall into this category include utility companies, food and beverage manufacturers, and healthcare providers.
For many investors, consumer defense stocks are a great way to build a solid portfolio of dividend-paying stocks without the worry of the stock’s price going down too drastically during market downturns. Investors can look to Unilever PLC (NYSE: UL) as one of these stocks, since it provides an assortment of consumer-focused goods and services, including beauty and personal care, household products, and foods.
These types of companies typically have strong revenue growth, so they’re a good long-term investment. In addition, a good consumer defense company will have promising financial results for the past year or two and attractive dividend payouts.
The evolution of consumer defense in Peru
After the distant norm of the 1979 Constitution, which concisely declared that the State defends the interest of the consumer and client until the current protective legal regime, and in tandem with Article 65, which places defence of the human person and respect for their dignity as the supreme goal of society and the State, it is clear that there has been a strong evolution of this type of legislation in our country. This has been largely influenced by European regulation, in particular with regard to sales to consumers and abusive clauses.
