Global Product Safety Innovation Forum, Seoul, South Korea, November 2024

Consumers increasingly buy goods and services in a complex digital and global marketplace, where unsafe products are readily available for sale, and information about their safety when used, reused, remanufactured, refurbished, made from recycled content, or disposed of is not equally available to consumers. The incorporation of digital or other new technologies in consumer products may pose novel product safety risks. Digital business models, such as online marketplaces, combined with global supply chains, have enabled delivery (including direct delivery) to consumers of unsafe products, without sufficient accountability throughout the supply chain. Circular business models may also pose new risks, such as insufficient oversight of second-hand or refurbished products, underlining the need for product safety over the lifecycle of the product and clear supply chain accountability. There is a growing need for international Cooperation, Guidelines, and Standards to establish and enforce product safety frameworks to reduce the risk of unsafe products reaching consumers.

During the conference CEO, CERC, who also a member of the Chair’s Advisory Board of ISO COPOLCO, presented India’s efforts in incorporating sustainability into its national standards by requiring Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to include environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in standards for various sectors, and expanding mandatory reporting through Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) for large companies. This multi-stakeholder effort aims to align industrial practices with India’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), drive green innovation, improve regulatory compliance, and enhance the nation’s global reputation for responsible growth.