Ref. : ER/Press/03/45/dG

Three-Member CERC Team Leaves for
World Consumer Congress in Lisbon

On an invitation from the Consumers International, London, a federation of consumer organisations worldwide, three senior executives of Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC), Ahmedabad, today left for the 17th World Consumer Congress to be held in Lisbon, Portugal, during 13 to 17 October 2003. The three members of the team are : Prof. Manubhai Shah, Chairman Emeritus, Mr. Ashok Tandon, Managing Trustee, and Ms Pritee Shah, Senior Director - CERC and Editor, INSIGHT - The Consumer Magazine.

Prof. Shah and Ms Shah will attend the Congress as Speakers. Mr. Tandon will participate in the five-day triennial event as a delegate.

The CERC team’s visit to Lisbon and participation in the Congress have been funded by the Consumers International and the German technical assistance agency, GTZ.

Prof. Shah has been invited to speak on ‘Creating Sustainable Organisations in a Developing Country : Experience with Different Models and Activities’. Ms Shah will make a presentation on ‘Consumer Education : Practices, Networks and the Future’ in the Asian perspective. Early last year, she had been invited to a one-day ‘Asia-Pacific Consultation on Consumer Education’ hosted by Consumers International Regional Office for Asia Pacific (CI ROAP), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Atleast 600 delegates from 250 Consumer Organisations in 115 countries will attend the Congress. The member organisations of the CI include several Governments as well.

The general theme of Congress 2003 is ‘The Future of Consumer Rights : Representation, Regulation and Empowerment in a World Economy’. Besides the Plenary Sessions, there will be a series of Workshops on trade and international forums, food and international forums, utilities, standards, information society, sustainability and social responsibility, and consumer movement. Besides, three Training Sessions have also been organised.

This apart, the Congress will also host other meetings and workshops covering a wide range of topics such as drug pricing, tobacco control, Codex Alimentarius, credibility of information on the web and consumer trust, intellectual property and the World Intellectual Property Organisation, and so on.

Date : 12/10/2003
Place : Ahmedabad

D. Gupta
Associate Editor
INSIGHT - The Consumer Magazine

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CONSUMER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTRE
“Suraksha Sankool”, Thaltej, Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway,
Ahmedabad- 380 054 (INDIA)
Phone: 079-7489945-46 Fax: 079-7489947
E-mail: cerc@wilnetonline.net

Web Site: http://www.cercindia.org
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