Africa-Press – Angola. Angola was the first Portuguese-speaking country to undergo a Voluntary Peer Review of Consumer Protection Legislation and Policies by the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
A press release that reached on Friday states that the exercise is part of the 9th United Nations Conference on Competition and Consumer Protection, which is taking place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
Angola’s peer review panel was made up of South Africa, Brazil, and
Portugal.
The Deputy Director General of the National Institute for Consumer Protection (INADEC), Wuassamba Neto, stated that the peer review Angola underwent “is a clear sign” of the political will and institutional commitment to advance and modernize the national consumer protection system, in line with international best practices and United Nations guidelines.
The official said that over the past two decades, Angola has progressively built a multifaceted consumer protection framework, complemented by sector-specific laws covering areas such as advertising, dispute resolution, credit, and product liability.
He recognized the urgent need for institutional reform to ensure that all consumers, regardless of their geographic location or income, have access to safe products, fair services, effective redress, and a voice in the national market.
He added that legal frameworks must evolve with market dynamics, especially in the context of digitalization, regional trade integration, and growing consumer expectations. UNCTAD recommended modernizing the Consumer Protection Law in areas such as e-commerce,
financial services, and telecommunications, which remain under regulated.
The UN conference recognized the needs of vulnerable consumers and advocated for the expansion of alternative dispute resolution centers and mechanisms, as well as the creation of a specialized consumer dispute resolution room within the courts to provide greater security and legal certainty.
It also recommended deepening cooperation between regulatory authorities and between public and private actors, as well as strengthening legal structures, monitoring systems, and digital complaints mechanisms.
Wuassamba Neto stated that Angola is committed to implementing the recommendations of this peer review and invited UNCTAD, partner countries, and others to continue cooperating to support the reform process.
Peer review is a process in which countries are evaluated by experts in related fields, with the aim of ensuring the quality, validity and relevance of the strategy presented, as well as helping to identify and correct errors, promote the advancement of scientific knowledge
and ensure that the strategy carried out is rigorous, reliable and credible.
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