DIN consumer council
The consumer council of the German Institute for Standardization e. V. represents the interests of non-commercial end users in standardization.
organization
The consumer council of the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) was founded in 1974 as a committee of the DIN presidium. It is composed of five members who are appointed by the President of DIN in consultation with the Federal Association of Consumers and the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV) .
These five members exercise their function on a voluntary basis and independently of DIN. The following institutions are represented in the consumer council:
- Stiftung Warentest
- Federal association of consumers
- Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing
- DHB - household network
- Consumer advice center Berlin
The executive body of the consumer council is its office, which is located in DIN. The employees of the office take care of the interests of consumers within DIN and its working bodies in accordance with the resolutions of the consumer council. The office is supported by around 60 external experts who represent consumer interests on behalf of the Council in the standardization bodies. These people work on a voluntary basis. The voluntary consumer representatives come from different organizations, for example consumer centers, Stiftung Warentest, universities, testing institutes, authorities or interest groups.
financing
The work of the consumer council is mainly financed from public funds. The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV) supports the consumer council based on a resolution of the German Bundestag. DIN makes an additional financial contribution and provides organizational support.
Areas of activity
Not only in the area of product standardization (e.g. safety of children's toys or functional properties of household appliances), but also increasingly in the area of standardization of services (e.g. requirements for the performance of customer contact centers (call centers)), the consumer council is committed to standardization to make products and services safer, more usable and more environmentally friendly.