1.4: Research, Reports, Advocacy, and International Cooperation

Enhance consumer welfare through research, reports, advocacy, and international cooperation and exchange

Other Information:

The FTC uses a variety of strategies in addition to law enforcement and education to enhance consumer welfare. The agency convenes conferences and workshops through which experts and other experienced and knowledgeable parties identify novel or challenging consumer protection issues and discuss ways to address those issues. The FTC also issues reports that Congress has mandated or that the agency has prepared on its own initiative that analyze consumer protection problems and suggest public and private sector policies to address them, such as self-regulatory efforts. Further, the FTC files comments with federal and state government bodies advocating policies that promote the interests of consumers and highlight the role of consumer and empirical research in their decision making. In particular, the agency testifies before Congress on consumer protection issues. The FTC engages in a variety of international cooperation, exchange, and advocacy activities designed to promote market-based consumer protection policies and effective cross-border coordination. The FTC also files amicus briefs to aid courts’ considerations of important consumer protection issues. Strategies: • Focus workshops and conferences on emerging or challenging consumer protection problems, especially those related to new technologies. • Issue reports mandated by law and other reports that articulate concrete measures that the public and private sectors could take to address consumer protection problems, particularly those related to new technologies or emerging technologies. • Target advocacy activities to encourage state, federal, and foreign government policymakers to evaluate both the costs and benefits of their policies for consumers, emphasizing the impact on consumers of policies that unnecessarily affect the dissemination of truthful, non-misleading information to consumers and the interplay of competition and consumer protection concerns. • Use letters and public comments to urge state, federal, and foreign government policymakers to consider consumer research and other empirical data in their decisions regarding the costs and benefits of their policies for consumers. • Pursue the development of an international market-based consumer protection model, which focuses on protecting consumers from significant harm while maximizing economic benefit, consumer access to information, and consumer choice. • Encourage industry self-regulation where consumer protection problems are emerging, industry has a comparative advantage in addressing the problems, or legal or practical limitations constrain the government’s ability to act. Annual and Five-Year Performance Measures: - Convene or participate substantially in at least 30workshops and conferences and issue at least 40 reports on novel or challenging consumer protection problems or issues over five-year period - File at least 30 public and advocacy comments with other federal and state government agencies over five-year period - Cooperate with foreign government agencies on at least 100 enforcement matters with cross-border components over five-year period - Provide policy or technical input to foreign government agencies or international organizations in at least 100instances involving consumer protection over five-year period

Indicator(s):

Indicator:1

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