International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network – ICPEN is an organisation associating consumer protection authorities from more than 70 countries worldwide. The work of the Network is chaired by a state pursuing annual, rotational residency within a specific period.

On 1st July 2023, Poland started to chair ICPEN for the second time (previously in the years: 2006-2007). The motto of the Polish Presidency will be as follows: “Empowering responsible consumer choices”, while our priority will be to develop and continue projects promoting the enhancement of the consumer position which will allow authorities enforcing consumer laws to continue to share practices in that regard. We will pursue our priorities both by way of implementation and continuation of the initiatives in the areas such as: Internet marketing, dark patterns, online consumer protection – finance of the future, misleading environmental statements.

For the Polish Presidency, searching for synergy among various consumer protection networks and platforms (EU, OECD, UNCTAD, GPEN) so as to strengthen cooperation and not to copy activities but to be complementary to one another will be of equal importance.

Additionally, during the Polish Presidency, the ICPEN Strategic Plan for the years 2024-2027 will be revised and updated.

The aim of the network is to:

• coordinate and cooperate in the enforcement of consumer laws,
• exchange information on market practices with a cross-border dimension that may adversely affect consumer interests, as well as new trends and risks in consumer protection,
• exchange information on best practices for key consumer laws and enforcement powers and regulatory approaches to consumer protection.

UOKiK participates in the following ICPEN initiatives:

• High Level Meetings - organised once a year by the country holding the Presidency to discuss the main directions of activities within ICPEN;
• Advisory Group of the ICPEN Presidency;
• plenary conferences - held twice a year in the country holding the Presidency;
• Best Practices Workshop, an annual two-day workshop on current consumer protection issues;
• eConsumer.gov – a project which enables registering International consumer complaints;
• Annual Internet Sweep Day, which browses the Internet for fraudulent and misleading websites;
• Working groups and regular seminars on current issues in the area of consumer protection;