To the World Consumer Rights Day

Every year on March 15, the international community celebrates World Consumer Rights Day, which is dedicated by the United Nations to the anniversary of U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s speech to Congress in 1962. Back then, the president’s speech formulated the fundamental rights of the consumer: the right to safety, the right to information, the right to choice, the right to be heard, the right to basic needs, the right to compensation, the right to consumer education, and the right to a healthy environment. In 1983, March 15 was enshrined in the international calendar of holidays as World Consumer Rights Day. For the global and European community, consumer protection is an essential indicator of the level of democracy in a country. Today, it is more important than ever to jointly focus efforts on the process of reforming and European integration in the field of consumer protection, because regardless of profession, education, or age, each of us is a consumer.

On March 13, on the occasion of World Consumer Rights Day, the State University of Trade and Economics hosted the Forum of the Consumer Assembly of Ukraine “CONSUMERS OF UKRAINE: Resilience to the Challenges of Today”, in which the Head of the Laboratory of Nutrition Hygiene and Safety of Food Products, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Mariia HULICH took part on behalf of the State Institution «Marzieiev Institute for Public Health of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine.»

The Forum emphasized that Consumers International has set the motto for 2025 as “A simple transition to sustainable lifestyles.” The participants of the Forum noted that in the context of hostilities and martial law, Ukrainian society, having focused its resources on efforts to win, should also take care of the principles of sustainable development in the post-war period. The uniqueness of today’s situation determines the need to build consumer and economic resilience as a systemic response to constant changes in turbulent conditions. The Forum paid considerable attention to consumer protection in terms of food quality and safety, especially concerning the problem of counterfeit products.

The participants of the event expressed a number of constructive proposals for the effective implementation of consumer policy in Ukraine based on the balance of interests between civil society, the state, and business.

World Consumer Rights Day is another reason to advise consumers: learn, use, and protect your rights!

Head of the Laboratory of Nutrition Hygiene and Safety of Food Products,
Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Mariia HULICH

(date of publication on the website 14.03.2025)