Celebrating World Consumer Rights Day

World Consumer Rights Day is an international day advocated by Consumers International (CI) to promote and commemorate the rights of consumers as first recognized by US President John F. Kennedy on March 15, 1962 (the right to safety, the right to information, the right to choose, the right to be heard).

The theme of this year's World Consumer Rights Day is "A Just transition to sustainable lifestyles."

CI has chosen this theme in response to the extreme weather that has become routine in many nations, that disrupt lives and livelihoods. At the same time, biodiversity loss and pollution are posing a growing threat to planetary and human health. It is increasingly clear that the impact of these crises is not just environmental, but economic and social too and is undermining progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Consequently, we will need to make fundamental changes to the way we eat, how we travel, how we heat, cool, and power our homes, and the products and services we buy and use. Yet it is essential that sustainable and healthy choices for consumers are made more available, accessible, and affordable.

In October 2024, the OECD Committee on Consumer Policy held the first Ministerial meeting under the theme of "Consumers at the Center of the Digital and Green Transitions." The meeting acknowledged that many consumers are concerned about climate change, and that they can incentivize businesses to address environmental challenges and drive markets to offer more sustainable choices. The Ministerial Declaration emphasizes the importance of empowering and protecting consumers in the green transition.

The Consumer Affairs Agency has been actively promoting and raising awareness on Ethical Consumption behaviors that are considerate to people, society, and the environment, including local area revitalization and employment. Achieving a sustainable society involves individual consumers' actions as well as awareness of the hidden social costs behind low prices and convenience. The Consumer Affairs Agency is working to engender awareness through various events and information dissemination making use of special websites and social media. Reducing food waste is an essential part of ethical consumption. Annual food waste in Japan is estimated to be 4.72 million tons, 30% greater the amount than 3.7 million tons of food aid provided by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in 2023. The Consumer Affairs Agency, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and the Ministry of the Environment (MoE) promote wise shopping and home cooking knowing the meaning of expiration labels on food items, or encourage people not to leave any food on their plate or take leftovers home when dining out.

Furthermore, in November 2024, the Consumer Affairs Agency appointed an expert working team on Green-oriented Consumer Behavior. The team discussed the ways to encourage consumers to recognize environmentally conscious products and services so that they proactively choose them. In their summary,, they emphasized the importance of creating a shared understanding that environmental issue is a current issue, not a distant future issue, and highlighted the need to create a system where green-oriented consumption behavior would be beneficial for consumers. For example, we can come up with innovative ways to stimulate consumer interest and desire for environmentally friendly products by making their choices enjoyable or cool, rather than merely pointing out how good they are for the environment. Businesses and private sector organizations can be innovative for a creative retail environment and product display that facilitate consumers' green behavior. The key is to ensure information flow from the government to a wide range of stakeholders such as businesses and the media, while supporting local governments and enterprises to reach out to consumers, as well as providing information on green certification labels and logos. We will build on the discussion by the working team and deepen our policy actions.

I wish to send a message here in the hope that this World Consumer Rights Day is an opportunity for all stakeholders to join together in thinking about issues surrounding consumers.

March 14, 2025
ITO Yoshitaka
Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food Safety