y 1995, Britain was already part of the European Union for more than twenty years and this bloc already had free trade. Even after introduction of WTO, the European Union allowed freer trade between its member states. The European Union Commission introduced consumer protection directive in 1993[10] and [11] which gave greater rights to the citizens of European Union. In addition, there is an array of legislation on many areas of competence on the European Union level. The affect is that consumers in Europe have much greater rights than elsewhere in the world[12].
In South Asian by 1995, the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) had already been established for more than a decade, but produced no protocol of free trade. Even since, there has been little progress on the matter. Only WTO and bilateral treaties affect trade between South Asian states. What this has meant is that in absence of any international protocol and in the bilateral treaties, there is no any consumer protection on a supranational level for South Asia Countries. Consumers buying foreign goods only have redress against the seller they purchase the item from within the country, which is not always the manufacturer as they can reasonably argue that they have no control over the matter. In the absence of local warranty or guarantee by the seller, redress by local law is limited. Further even warranties can be limited in scope. Similarly, cross border goods or services are without any consumer protection. This leaves a consumer in South Asia in a very precarious situation in a globalised world.
It is suggested that a consequence of the pan-European consumer protection is that the quality of items manufactured in Europe have become better and at the same time, the trade within EU and trade between EU and world has only increased[13]. A similar form of protection in South Asia can only make improve nations' market value while providing greater protections to the South Asian consumer.
5
It is important here is to compare South Asia and British development of legal consumer protections. We will see that all states in South Asia have remained committed to consumer protection within their state, and introduction of The United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection in 1985 have been particularly instrumental in their consumer laws[8]. However, the introduction of the World Trade Organisation in 1995[9] and the subsequent unprecedented freeing of international trade have meant that one cannot think in narrow national terms when it comes to consumer protection in a global market.
Cross Borders
B