ASEAN inaugurates its Regional Complaints Platform

The ASEAN Committee on Consumer Protection (ACCP) will officially launch the Regional Complaints Platform on 28 June 2022 as part of the 3rd ASEAN Consumer Protection Conference (ACPC) 2022.

The ASEAN Regional Complaints Platform is a dedicated page in the ASEAN Committee on Consumer Protection (ACCP) website (https://aseanconsumer.org/) where consumers can file consumer complaints that are of concern to ASEAN Member States (AMS). It serves as a channel or facility for ASEAN consumers to complain or claim for any loss incurred, in respect of any goods or services purchased or acquired, and in a speedy manner.

The ACCP agreed to pursue the ASEAN Secretariat’s proposal to enhance the ACCP website to add features such as the complaints portal, product recalls page and an internal page which is accessible only to ACCP members and the ASEAN Secretariat, where workshop materials can be shared and where members can update their respective country page in real time.

The inclusion of a complaints platform within the ACCP website adheres to the ASEAN Guidelines on Cross Border Business to Consumer (B2C) Dispute Resolution and is aligned with the initiative of the ASEAN Strategic Action Plan on Consumer Protection (ASAPCP 2025). The Guidelines and Strategic Action Plan provide the establishment of an ASEAN ODR Network and the establishment of a cross-border complaints mechanism in ASEAN. For this initiative, the ACCP was supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, within the framework of the PROTECT Project (2019-2022).

“The complaint platform provides an efficient facility for consumer redress to provide them greater confidence when making commercial transactions locally or internationally regardless if the same was made online or offline”, DTI-Consumer Protection Group Undersecretary Ruth B. Castelo underscores. For more information on the ACCP and its programs, visit https://aseanconsumer.org/.   For consumer-related concerns and queries, send an email to ConsumerCare@dti.gov.ph or call the One-DTI (1-384) Hotline.