National standards bodies, such as BSI in the UK, are obliged to include all relevant stakeholders - including consumers - in standards development. Members of the consumer stakeholder group speak up for consumers in standards and make sure their voice is heard.
A consumer stakeholder can be any independent organization acting in the best interests of consumers. They might be experts on:
- general consumer issues
- a specific topic (e.g. electrical safety or sustainability)
- the needs of particular groups of consumers (e.g. children or disabled people)
Depending on the standard, there might be one or more organizations within the consumer stakeholder group. However, many consumer organizations lack the resources to participate in standards directly. That’s why it is important to have CPIN, which has a specific role to speak up for consumers in British Standards.
CPIN collaborates with other UK consumer organizations via BSI’s Consumer Forum.