Consumer Protection in Asia

"This book looks at the consumer protection offered in a range of Asian countries, for example China, Japan, and South Korea in key areas such as consumer sales law, unfair terms, product liability, and unfair commercial practices. However, it is interesting to note that consumer protection is on the rise everywhere and to compare how this differs depending upon the legal cultures. It is also fascinating to reflect on the influence of models for law reform such as the EU laws. ASEAN has also affected the development of consumer policy for its member states. The book takes the form of national reports which explain the development of the law and also shed light on how the law works in practice. The book also contains thematic reports which look at each area of the law from a comparative perspective. Commentators from around the globe reflect on their impression of Asian consumer law based on their own differing legal systems and benchmarks. A must-read for anyone with an interest in consumer law in Asia and beyond, this book will form the basis of further research and discussion internationally."-- Provided by publisher Foreword Contents List of Contributors PART 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction to Asian Consumer Law I. Background II. Implications and Incentives III. The Actors: Governments, Courts and Consumer Organisations IV. Substance of Consumer Law V. Enforcement of Consumer Law VI. Conclusions PART 2 NATIONAL REPORTS 2. China I. Introduction II. Sources of Consumer Law III. Concept of Consumer IV. Pre-contractual Information Obligations V. Right of Withdrawal VI. Sale of Goods: Remedies for Non-conformity VII. Unfair Contract Terms VIII. Product Liability IX. Product Safety X. Adaptation to the Digital Age XI. Unfair Commercial Practices XII. Access to Justice XIII. Concluding Remarks: The Way Further Forward? 3. Hong Kong I. Overview II. Information Duties and Right of Withdrawal III. Consumer Sales Law IV. Unfair Contract Terms V. Product Liability VI. Product Safety VII. Adaption to the Digital Age VIII. Unfair Commercial Practices IX. Access to Justice X. Conclusion 4. India I. Introduction II. Overview III. Information and Right of Withdrawal IV. Consumer Sales Law V. Unfair Contract Terms VI. Product Liability VII. Product Safety VIII. E-Commerce in the Digital Age IX. Unfair Trade Practices X. Access to Justice XI. Conclusion 5. Indonesia I. Overview II. Position of Consumer Protection Law III. Unfair Contract Terms IV. Product Liability V. Access to Justice VI. Consumer Protection Bill VII. Consumer Protection in the Digital Era VIII. Misleading Advertising and Unfair Commercial Practices 6. Japan I. Structure of Japanese Consumer Law II. Information Duties and Right of Withdrawal III. Sale of Goods: Consumer Sales Contract IV. Unfair Terms V. Product Liability VI. Product Safety VII. Adaption to Digital Age VIII. Unfair Commercial Practices IX. Access to Justice 7. Macau I. Introduction II. Information Duties and Right of Withdrawal III. Consumer Protection in the Sale of Goods and the Provision of Services: The Standards of Non-Conformity IV. Unfair Contractual Clauses and Standard Form Contracts V. Product Liability VI. Product Safety VII. Adaptation to the Digital Age VIII. Unfair Practices in Relation to Consumers IX. Access to Justice X. Conclusion 8. Malaysia I. Overview II. Consumer Protection Timeline III. Information Duties and Right of Withdrawal IV. Sale of Goods V. Unfair Terms VI. Product Liability VII. Product Safety VIII. Adaptation to the Digital Age IX. Access to Justice 9. Myanmar I. Introduction II. Background III. Conclusion 10. Singapore I. Overview II. Information Duties and Right of Withdrawal III. Consumer Sales Law IV. Unfair Contract Terms V. Product Liability VI. Product Safety VII. Adaptation to the Digital Age VIII. Unfair Commercial Practices IX. Access to Justice X. Changes to the Regulatory Scene XI. Conclusion 11. South Korea I. Introduction II. Information Duties and Right of Withdrawal III. Termination of Contract in Recurring Transactions IV. Non-conformity of Goods with the Contract V. Unfair Contract Terms VI. Product Liability VII. Product Safety VIII. Unfair Trade Practices IX. Regulatory Framework for Online Intermediary Platforms X. Consumer Dispute Resolution XI. Conclusion 12. Taiwan (Republic of China) I. Introduction II. The Consumer Law Framework III. The Consumer Protection Act IV. The Financial Consumer Protection Act and Other Consumer Protection Related Laws and Regulations V. Consumer Dispute Resolution VI. Conclusion 13. Thailand I. Overview II. The Structure of Consumer Protection Law in Thailand III. Information Duties and Right of Withdrawal IV. Unfair Contract Terms V. Sale of Goods VI. Product Liability VII. Product Safety VIII. Consumer Protection Law in the Digital Age IX. Unfair Commercial Practices X. Personal Data Protection XI. Access to Justice XII. Right to Consumer Participation: Consumer Council XIII. Conclusion 14. Vietnam I. Introduction II. Information Duties and Right to Withdraw III. Consumer Sales Law IV. Unfair Terms V. Product Liability VI. Product Safety VII. Adaption to the Digital Age VIII. Unfair Commercial Practices IX. Access to Justice X. Conclusion PART 3 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS 15. Information Duties and the Right of Withdrawal I. Introduction II. The Rationale for Information Duties and Rights of Withdrawal III. General Information Duties and Rights IV. Specific Information Duties and Rights V. Rights of Withdrawal VI. Conclusion 16. Sale of Goods: A Comparative Perspective I. Introduction II. Origins, Jurisdiction, Borrowings III. Consumer Sales IV. Contractual Obligations V. Remedies VI. Conclusions 17. A Comparative Analysis of the Regulation of Unfair Terms in Asia I. Introduction II. General Standards of Unfairness III. Procedural Unfairness IV. Specific Prohibitions V. Consequences of Including Unfair Terms VI. Conclusion 18. Product Liability I. Introduction II. Strict Product Liability III. Products and Producers IV. Recoverable Damages V. Burden of Proof and Defences VI. Conclusion 19. Adaptation of Asian Consumer Law to the Digital Age I. Consumer Law Facing the Digital Age: The Global Challenge II. Origins, Jurisdiction, Borrowings III. The Notions of Digital Goods and Digital Services IV. Data Protection V. E-Commerce VI. Online Dispute Resolution VII. Between Fragmentation and Cross-contamination: Asian Digital Consumer Law Facing the Global and the Environmental Challenges 20. Commercial Practices I. Introduction II. Origins, Jurisdictions and Borrowing III. Distribution of Sources in the Law on Commercial Practices11 IV. The Scope and Reach of the Law on Commercial Practices V. Private and Public, Individual and Collective Enforcement 21. Access to Justice I. Introduction II. Judicial Consumer Redress III. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) IV. Administrative Enforcement and the Role of Regulators V. Conclusions Annex 22. Consumer Product Liability and Safety Regulation: ASEAN in Asia I. Introduction II. Fragmented Product Safety Regulation III. Private Law Redress for Unsafe Products IV. Conclusions PART 4 ASIAN LAW IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE 23. European Union Consumer Law I. Introduction II. Information and Right of Withdrawal III. Sale of Goods IV. Unfair Terms V. Product Liability VI. Product Safety VII. Adaptations to the Digital Age VIII. Unfair Commercial Practices IX. Access to Justice X. Conclusion 24. Regulation of Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts: An American Perspective I. Introduction II. Regulation of Unfair Terms by Statutes III. Regulation of Unfair Terms by Common Law Decision-Making IV. The Draft Restatement of Law: Consumer Contracts V. Conclusion 25. Australasia I. Structure of Law II. Information and Right of Withdrawal III. Sale of Goods IV. Unfair Contract Terms V. Product Liability VI. Product Safety VII. Adaption to the Digital Age VIII. Unfair Commercial Practices IX. Access to Justice 26. Latin America I. Introduction II. Consumer Protection in Latin America: An Overview III. Influences in the Development of Consumer Law in Latin America IV. The South American Particularity: Focus on the Vulnerable Consumer V. The Substance of Consumer Law VI. Enforcement of Consumer Law and Access to Justice VII. Conclusions 27. African Perspective I. Introduction II. Scope of Application of Consumer Protection Laws III. Information Duties and Right of Withdrawal IV. Consumer Sales: Remedies V. Unfair Contract Terms VI. Product Liability VII. Product Safety VIII. Adaptation to the Digital Age IX. Unfair Commercial Practices X. Access to Justice XI. Conclusion 28. ASEAN Economic Integration and Consumer Protection in Southeast Asia I. Introduction II. Free Trade (Agreements) Promoting ASEAN Consumer Protection III. Developing Consumer Protection: Mostly Still in the 'ASEAN Way' IV. Conclusions 29. The Effect of the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection on Consumer Law in Asia I. The United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection II. The Impact of the UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection in Asia PART 5 CONCLUSION 30. Some Concluding Remarks: Future Prospects for Consumer Law in Asia I. General Observations II. Challenges and Opportunities for AsianConsumer Laws and Policies III. Globalisation and Cross-BorderConsumer Transactions IV. Digitalisation and New Technologies V. Enforcement of Consumer Law VI. Final Concluding Observations Index Seen through the consumer lens the law on commercial practices is deeply connected to the 'right to information' which plays a prominent role in consumer law from the 1962 declaration of President Kennedy onwards. I am using here the modern term 'commercial practices' which covers advertising and sales promotion and which has been introduced by the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and I will not hide that I am looking at the ASEAN laws on Unfair Commercial Practices through European eyes, this means through the eyes of the most recent and most developed model of supranational legislation. It seems that the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive could turn into a success story similar to the Product Liability Directive. Roughly speaking, the distinction between advertising and sales promotion is the following: advertising measures carry some sort of information which shall entice the consumer to buy a product or a service. The concern of the consumer is that the information is 'correct' and 'true' and does not mislead them. Sales promotion instead focuses on marketing strategies such as doorstep selling, rebates, promotional sales, gifts, sale at a loss, tied promotion, three for the price of two, etc. Whilst there might be an informational element, however, contrary to advertising, the emphasis is not on information but on promotional activities. The consumer concern however might not only result from misleading advertising and sales promotion techniques, but much more generally from being treated 'unfairly'. Until today and in particular in cross-cutting analyses which cover many different countries, cultures and traditions, 'fairness' or 'deception' remain relatively open legal concepts, which are more often than not tailored to the national particularities. The law on unfair commercial practices plays a prominent role in legal research and has attracted attention far beyond Europe This book looks at the consumer protection offered in a range of Asian countries, for example China, Japan, and South Korea in key areas such as consumer sales law, unfair terms, product liability, and unfair commercial practices. However, it is interesting to note that consumer protection is on the rise everywhere and to compare how this differs depending upon the legal cultures. It is also fascinating to reflect on the influence of models for law reform such as the EU laws. ASEAN has also affected the development of consumer policy for its member states.0The book takes the form of national reports which explain the development of the law and also shed light on how the law works in practice. The book also contains thematic reports which look at each area of the law from a comparative perspective. Commentators from around the globe reflect on their impression of Asian consumer law based on their own differing legal systems and benchmarks. A must-read for anyone with an interest in consumer law in Asia and beyond, this book will form the basis of further research and discussion internationally