Case study responses
Concerns expressed by participants about the inadequacy of information sharing and knowledge within government were also expressed regarding relations between ASEAN governments.
It was noted that there is regulatory cooperation in some areas, such as with food safety. Some information is available on the ASEAN website; however, it was noted that information sharing needs to be more extensive than presently exists on that site.
Closer integration between the work of ASEAN and APEC was suggested. Comments by case study participants regarding enhanced information sharing and cooperation included
• there needs to be better coordination among consumer protection agencies within ASEAN
• there needs to be better regulatory cooperation in relation to criminal and other investigations
• an ASEAN ministerial council responsible for consumer affairs might be a good idea
• there should be a clearinghouse for ideas, approaches and strategies regarding consumer issues
• there should be better linkages with APEC working groups regarding e-commerce
• the relevant ASEAN regulators in each country should be a member of the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network19
• consideration should be given to actively involving ministers and government officials responsible for consumer affairs in the ASEAN Economic Officials Meeting, at least in so far as it involves enhancing e-commerce.