§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment she has made of(a) the impact of electronic home shopping on agency and direct sales, (b)the need for protection against unfair sales pressures in the homes of consumers in respect of home shopping and (c)future price movements in the home shopping market. [36317]
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsConsumers must be protected against unfair sales pressure, particularly in their homes. I consider that existing provisions could be improved, and plan to publish a consultation paper setting out proposals to strengthen the consumer protection provided by the Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts Concluded away from Business Premises) Regulations 1987. I shall also be consulting on the implementation of two EU Directives which provide protection for consumers using mail order, telephone sales, electronic commerce and other methods of distance selling. These are the Distance Selling Directive, which covers all organised methods of selling where the consumer and trader do not meet, up to and including the conclusion of the contract and has to be implemented by June 2000, and the Telecoms Protection Directive which protects consumers against unsolicited telephone calls and faxes and will be implemented this October.
While my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has not carried out any studies of future price movements in the home shopping market, the development of electronic commerce seems likely to be an important competitive element in retailing in the future.