Critical and Comparative Study of "Consumer's Right ProtectionLaw" in Iran, Withunited Nations Guidelines For Consumer Protection.

LAW MANTRATHINK BEYOND OTHERS
(National Monthly Journal, I.S.S.N 2321 6417)

Critical and Comparative Study of
"Consumer's Right ProtectionLaw" in Iran, withUnited
Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection

Abstract
Emergence of consumer right in the business application has brought about significant
evolution in today's market as well as formation of consumer protection. Utilizing such
protection requires accurate conception of consumer behavior paradigm and application of
proper marketing strategies. In today's world preservation of society health and consumer
benefits are in government duty and responsibility, above all authority. The consumers are
being oppressed due to unawareness of their fundamental rights as well as they are ignorant
about the potential of available legal remedies. To furnish the consumer forums with
appropriate enforcement and paraphernalia for consumer protection in all consumer related
matters from food and health to pecuniary contracts and establishment of adequate redress
mechanisms should be one of the main objectives of any government. In Iran, the significant
of consumer protection was on the focus of attention in the recent years, which "consumers
right protection law"approved by 15-sep-2008.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the adaption among the concepts regarding consumer
rights under the legal framework of Iran. This paper will also point out the factors which are
mentioned in consumer protection law in the UNguidelines for consumer protection to
declare some improvement to the current stage of Iran's consumer protection.
Key words: Consumer, Manufacturer, Protection, Decision Making.

Introduction
In the traditional and agricultural economic that production and consumption of goods were
restricted to the household and there were not an independent group named "consumer",
protection and defense of their benefits did not have sense. However, after industrial
revolution and formation of a group that named "Consumer", gently protection of consumer

against manufacturers and sellers became a social and political and essential
requirement. The main goal of applying consumer protection policy is prevention
of usage of harmful goods and services that threatened the society health (Haghighi, 2004,
55-56).In Iran, the significant of consumer protection was on the focus of attention in the
recent years, which "consumers right protection law" approved by 15-sep-2008, in Iran's
Islamic parliament.
Consumer protection is laws designed to aid retail consumers of goods and services that have
been improperly manufactured, delivered, performed, handled, or described (Dictionary of
Marketing, 2014). Conversely, it is efforts to ensure that products purchased by consumers
are safe to use, will meet all express or implied performance standards, that consumers will
have adequate information to make safe purchase and use decisions, that marketers are
prevented from using fraudulent methods to sell their products, and that marketers compete
fairly in the marketplace. To achieve their objectives, consumer protection advocates,
including individual consumers, government agencies and businesses, use federal and state
legislation, class action lawsuits, organized consumer actions like boycotts, and mass media
tools like local newspaper. Consumerism is Public concern over the rights of consumers, the
quality of consumer goods, and the honesty of advertising.This ideology is social phenomenal
that protection of consumers against unhealthy products and fraudulent suppliers are
necessary (Pearson, 2000, pp. 94-95, 212, 382) and emphasis in quality, safety and
information content of goods and services required by the consumer in the market (Statt,
1999, pp. 30-31). In today's world, some unions, associations, groups and consumer centers
are responsible for consumer protection.countries according to their economical, political,
social and cultural condition and interaction with the developments of external environment,
formulate a proper mechanism for establishing unions, groups, centers, governmental and
nongovernmental associations to protect consumers and thereby, through increasing the
whole consumer satisfaction improve the influence of governance. The following figure
shows the legal literature studies in Iran on the subject of consumer protection.

Figure 1- the legal literaturestudies in Iran on the subject of consumer protection.
Author /
Researcher
Research Outcome
Hussein Saleki, Book: Protecting of The first book in Iran which had a legal

Author /
Researcher
Research Outcome
1986. Consumer Rights

review on consumer protection.
Hadi Esmailzadeh,
1995.
Book: a Look at Consumer
Rights

Present the first Pattern of consumer
protection which approved by the
Council of Ministers.
Heshmat Allahe
Samavati, 1995.
Book: Business Competition
and its Role in Policy-making
and Market Regulation.

Assessing the general aspects of
business competition law and mention
one of the main goals in this law is
returning the lost consumer rights.
Taghi Ramezani,
1999.
Dissertation: Criminal
Protection in Consumer
Rights: Comparative Study in
France Criminal Law.
A comparative study in the consumer
protection right in two countries.
Abdol Hamid
Shams, 2002.
Book: The Deregulation
The term of deregulation in initial
impression imagine forming some
action in order to reduce the rules but
this behavior is not necessarily mean
reducing quantities of laws: it means
preservation and reinforcement current
laws.
Ahmad
Bagherzadeh,
2002.
Book: Market, Government,
Consumer Rights.
Describe the duty and role of market
and government in the consumer rights.
Nasr Allah
Ebrahimi, 2004.
Article: The Responsibility of
Producing Defective Goods
Description the responsibilities and the
factors of protection.

Author /
Researcher
Research Outcome
and Protection of Consumers.

According to the above researches, The Main purpose of consumer protection will categories
as follow:
- Consumer weakness:the relationship among professionals (suppliers) and consumers
are naturally disequilibrium. Professional competencies, information ownership and
often the financial solvency allowed the supplier to impose things upon consumer.
- Legal duty to protect the weak: the law task is to protect weak against strong. If
people in a community are always in misuse of powers, living in that community
would not Possible. Law in protecting the weak tends to create a peaceful society.
That is because protection of consumer is concerned.
- Disability of classical private law in consumer protection: civil laws are unable to
guarantee consumer protection because the solutions of civil law are often containing
litigation in the court, which should be done individually after the contract and after
its implementation (Ramezani, 1999).

Consumer Bill of Rights
Before the mid-twentieth century, consumers had limited rights with regard to their
interaction with products and commercial producers. Consumers had limited ground on
which to defend themselves against faulty or defective products, or against misleading or
deceptive advertising methods (Smith, 1995).
The consumer movement began to gather a following, pushing for increased rights and legal
protection against malicious business practices. By the end of the 1950s, legal product
liability had been established in which an aggrieved party need only prove injury by use of a
product, rather than bearing the burden of proof of corporate negligence.
On March 15, 1962, J ohn F. Kennedy presented a speech to the United States Congress in
which he extolled four basic consumer rights. This right states that businesses should always
provide consumers with enough appropriate information to make intelligent and informed

product choices. Product information provided by a business should always be
complete and truthful. These rights include as follow:
- The right to safety: The assertion of this right is aimed at the defense of consumers
against injuries caused by products other than automobile vehicles, and implies that
products should cause no harm to their users if such use is executed as prescribed.
- The right to be informed:This right states that businesses should always provide
consumers with enough appropriate information to make intelligent and informed
product choices. Product information provided by a business should always be
complete and truthful. Aiming to achieve protection against misleading information in
the areas of financing, advertising, labeling, and packaging.
- The right to choose: The right to free choice among product offerings states that
consumers should have a variety of options provided by different companies from
which to choose.
- The right to be heard: This right asserts the ability of consumers to voice complaints
and concerns about a product in order to have the issue handled efficiently and
responsively.

The United Nations through the "United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection"
expanded these into eight rights (1998):
- The right to satisfaction of basic needs:This right demands that people have access
to basic, essential goods and services: adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care,
education, public utilities, water, and sanitation.
- The right to redress:The right to redress provides for consumers to receive a fair
settlement of just claims, including compensation for misrepresentation, shoddy
goods, or unsatisfactory services. For example, a consumer should be able to go to
consumer court against mobile phone companies that put hidden charges on the bill
that were not previously explained, or activate ringtones without the consumer's
permission.
- The right to consumer education: The right to consumer education states that
consumers should be able to acquire knowledge and skills needed to make informed,
confident choices about goods and services, while being aware of basic consumer
rights and responsibilities and how to act on them.

- The right to a healthy environment: This is the right to live and work in
an environment that is non-threatening to the well-being of present and future
generations.

Consumer Protection Laws in Iran: acomparative approach
There are three laws concerning protection of consumer rights and following with their own
establishment under the authority of Iran's Ministry of commerce: (1)consumers right
protection law, (2) the law of loyal punishment and (3) the law of guild system. Figure 2
shows recognized consumer rights in each law and compare them with each other.
Figure2- Comparative Study of Consumer Protection Laws in Iran
Recognized Consumer Rights
in consumers right protection law of Iran
The Law of
Loyal
Punishment
The Law of
Guild
System
Rights to acquire safely
goods and services
Guarantee the accuracy and
safely of goods
* *
Manufacture in accordance with
standards
* *
Goods in compliance with the
specification stated
* *
Compensation for damages
caused by defects
* *
Provide guarantees * *
Supply of required spare parts * *
Right to required
information
Providing any information,
including instructions and
catalogs
- -
Stated unit price of goods and
installation of them
* *
Providing invoice * *
Right to acquisition of
goods
No hoarding * -
Refrain from deceptive auctions
and vague award offer
- -

Figure2- Comparative Study of Consumer Protection Laws in Iran
in consumers right protection law of Iran
The Law of
Loyal
Punishment
The Law of
Guild
System
Right to have government
support
Prohibit conspiracy of suppliers
from supply reduction or product
quality to impose inappropriate
price
* -
Prohibit false and misleading
advertisements
* *
* The right observes.
- The right do not observes.

The figure above shows that the laws of loyal punishment and guild system have some
imperfections in rights like providing any information, including instructions and catalogs, no
hoarding, refrain from deceptive auctions and vague award offer and prohibit conspiracy of
suppliers from supply reduction or product quality to impose inappropriate price. Therefore,
there is acceptable universality in the consumers right protection law of Iran toward the two
prior laws.
UN guidelines for consumer protection:a comparative approach
Taking into account the interests and needs of consumers in all countries, particularly those
indeveloping countries; recognizing that consumers often face imbalances in economic terms,
educational levels and bargaining power; and bearing in mind that consumers should have the
right of access to non-hazardous products, as well as the right to promote just, equitable and
sustainable economic and social development and environmental protection, UN guidelines
for consumer protection have the following objectives:
- To assist countries in achieving or maintaining adequate protection for their
population as consumers;
- To facilitate production and distribution patterns responsive to the needs and desires
of consumers;

- To encourage high levels of ethical conduct for those engaged in the
production and distribution of goods and services to consumers;
- To assist countries in curbing abusive business practices by all enterprises at the
national and international levels which adversely affect consumers;
- To facilitate the development of independent consumer groups;
- To further international cooperation in the field of consumer protection;
- To encourage the development of market conditions which provide consumers with
greater choice at lower prices;
- To promote sustainable consumption.
The following figure shows the recognized consumer rights according to the UN guideline of
consumer protection and its relation with the consumer's right protection law of Iran and its
enforcement. As could be seen, there are some main difference in focusing consumers'
requirements to create sustainable and loyal consumption.
Figure3- Comparative Study of Consumer Protection Laws in Iran and UN Guideline
in UNguideline of consumer protection
Consumers
Right
Protection
Law of Iran
Iran's
Enforcement
Physical safety
Adaption to standards and maintenance of
safety
* *
Prohibition of supplying unsafe goods by
distributors
* *
Notify unforeseen hazards of product(after
placement on the market) to consumers and
ensure that consumer are properly informed
* -
Recall, replace, modify or substitute
defective products

- -

Promotion and
protection of
Achieve the goals ofsatisfactory production
andperformance
standards,adequatedistribution methods,fair
- -

Consumers
Right
Protection
Law of Iran
Iran's
Enforcement
consumers'
economic
interest
business practices,informative
marketingandeffective protection against
practices
prevent practices which are damaging to the
economic interests of consumers

* *
Clear the responsibility of the producer to
ensure that goods meetreasonable demands
of durability, utility and reliability, and are
suited to the purpose for which they are
intended
* *
Encourage fair and effective competition in
order to provide consumers with the greatest
range of choice among products and services
at the lowest cost
- -
adequate availability of reliableafter-sales
service and spare parts
* -
protected from such contractual abuses * *
Promotional marketing and sales practices
should be guided by the principle of fair
treatment of consumers and should meet
legal requirements
* *
Participate in the free flow of accurate
information on all aspects of consumer
products.
* *

Consumers
Right
Protection
Law of Iran
Iran's
Enforcement
Consumer access to accurate
informationabout the environmental impact
of products and services should be
encouraged
- *
The development of appropriate advertising
codes andstandards for the regulation and
verification of environmental claims should
be encouraged.
- -
Standards for
the safety and
quality of
consumer goods
and services
Formulate or promote the elaboration and
implementation of standards, voluntary and
other, at the national and international levels
for the safety and quality of goods and
services and give them appropriate publicity
* *
National standards and regulations for
product safety and quality should be
reviewed from time to time
* *
Where a standard lower than the generally
accepted international standard is
beingappliedbecause of local economic
conditions, every effort should be made to
raise that standard as soon as possible
- -
Distribution
facilities for
essential
consumer goods
and services
Ensure the efficient distribution of goods
and services
- *
Encouraging the establishment of consumer
cooperatives and related trading activities
- *

Consumers
Right
Protection
Law of Iran
Iran's
Enforcement
Measuresenabli
ngconsumers to
obtain redress
Enable consumers or, as appropriate,
relevant organizations to obtain redress
through formal or informal procedures that
are expeditious, fair, inexpensive and
accessible
* *
encourage all enterprises to resolveconsumer
disputes in a fair,expeditious and informal
manner, and to establish voluntary
mechanisms, including advisory services
and informal complaints procedures, which
can provide assistance to consumers
- *
Information on available redress and other
dispute-resolving procedures should be
made available to consumers
- *
Education and
information
programs
develop or encourage the development of
general consumer education and information
programsin both rural and urban areas,
including low-income consumers and those
with low or non-existent literacy level
- -
Consumer education should, where
appropriate, become an integral part of the
basic curriculum of the educational system,
preferably as a component of existing
subjects
- -
encourage consumer organizations and other
interested groups, including the media, to
- -

Consumers
Right
Protection
Law of Iran
Iran's
Enforcement
undertake education and information
programs
Business should, where appropriate,
undertake or participate in factual and
relevant consumer education and
information programs.
-
*
(Case: bank
warns about
new way of
scams with
SMS)
Develop or encourage the development of
consumer information programs in the mass
media

-
*
(Case:
Market
channels in
TV)
Promotion of
sustainable
consumption

Sustainable consumption includes meeting
the needs of present and future generations
for goods and services in ways that are
economically, socially and environmentally
sustainable
-
*
(Case:
modifying
the
consumption
pattern)
Informed consumers have an essential role
in promoting consumption that
isenvironmentally, economically and
socially sustainable
- *
Encourage recycling programs that
encourage consumers to both recycle wastes
and purchase recycled products
-
*
(case: done
by

Consumers
Right
Protection
Law of Iran
Iran's
Enforcement
municipality
)
Safely manage environmentally harmful - -
Promote awareness of the health-related
benefits of sustainable consumption
- -
Encourage the transformation of sustainable
consumption patterns through the
development and use of new
environmentally sound products and
services and new technologies, including
information and communication
technologies, that can meet consumer needs
while reducing pollution and depletion of
natural resources
- -
Promote research on consumer behavior
related to environmental damage in order to
identify ways to make consumption patterns
more sustainable
- -
Measures
relating to
specific areas

Give priority to areas of essential concern
for the health of the consumer, such as food
security, water and pharmaceuticals
* *
International
cooperation
Develop or strengthen information links
regarding products which have been banned,
withdrawn or severely restricted in order to
* *

Consumers
Right
Protection
Law of Iran
Iran's
Enforcement
enable other importing countries to protect
themselves adequately against the harmful
effects of such products.
Quality of products, and information relating
to such products, does not vary from country
to country in a way that would have
detrimental effects on consumers
* *
* The right observes / execute.
- The right do not observes/execute.
Conclusion:
A critical approach to consumers' right protection law of Iran

According to this study and observation of researchers, approaches of protection in Iran are
more skew to manufacturing dimension. Therefore, enforcement of consumer's right
protection law is not under the authority of one individual organization, but governmental
organization with the mission of protecting the manufacturer are protecting consumer
simultaneously;this structural weakness would create a diversification toward consumer
protection goal approach.By considering the two comparative studies, there are three laws
which following different goals or in some criteria, parallel direction by the different
enforcements (Organizations), would causes consumer ambiguity. Nether of the laws on
domain of consumer protection are comprehensive to protect in detail the consumer rights.
In some cases, observed that there were some activities which applying and that did not
predict in the laws, which shows, the Iran's consumer protection laws should updated with the
new needs of society.Considering the goals of UN guideline for consumer protection, the
Iran's promotion is more considers the mitigation of consumption against sustainable

consumption: and this conditional decision could be the consequences of
endogenous economicstrategies.
As could be seen in the comparative study of consumers right protection law of Iran and UN
guideline, there were numerous dimensions which do not considers directly in Iran's law. For
instance, it does not focus on educational aspects: Consumer education and information
programs should cover such important aspects of consumer protection as the following (UN,
2003):
- Health, nutrition, prevention of food-borne diseases and foodadulteration;
- Product hazards;
- Product labeling;
- Relevant legislation, how to obtain redress, and agencies and organizations for
consumer protection;
- Information on weights and measures, prices, quality, credit conditions and
availability of basic necessities;
- Environmental protection; and
- Efficient use of materials, energy and water

The whole issues that mentioned in this research, shows the improvement points which needs
more consideration for promoting consumer protection more seriously in Iran. Consumer
generally is weak and the law task is to protect the weak against strong (supplier).

By:-
Mehrdad HassanZadeh Dugoori
Distinguished Professor: Faculty Member of Islamic Azad University Central Tehran
Branch (IAU) Tehran, Iran
Iman Mohammadali Tajrishi
Docterial Student in Marketing: Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch
(IAU), and Project Management Office (PMO) of Pars Oil and Gas Company Tehran,
Iran

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LAW MANTRATHINK BEYOND OTHERS

(National Monthly Journal, I.S.S.N 2321 6417)

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