Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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41. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on a potential mechanism that would encourage businesses that operate online under an Irish domain name to indicate the provenance of items for sale, which could assist customers in making informed choices regarding the environmental impact of their purchase due to air miles and to support Irish producers. [10522/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has raised an interesting question. Certainly, the more information that consumers have the better in terms of them being able to make buying decisions informed by the values that they consider important. We all know that price, quality, design and other considerations are factors in buying decisions but there is a growing and welcome focus on other factors such as the sustainability of the product and the impact that well informed consumer behaviour can have on the environment.

As Minister with responsibility for consumer protection, my focus of course is on protecting consumers and ensuring that products are safe to use and that they have rights to refunds, replacements, etc., in certain situations. In this regard, the issue of displaying information about the origin of a product for consumer protection purposes is not simple as it involves an interplay between the Directive (EU) on Unfair Commercial Practice Directive (UCPD) and the EU Consumer Rights Directive (CRD). Traders who sell their goods online are required to provide particular information at the pre-contractual stage to consumers who may be considering whether or not to purchase a product from that trader. The information requirements are contained in Schedule 2 to S.I. No. 484/2013 - European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations 2013. Schedule 2, paragraph (a) of the Regulation provides that prior to the conclusion of a distance contract, the trader will provide information in relation to the main characteristics of the goods or services, to the extent appropriate to the transaction medium and to the goods or services being purchased. What constitutes the main characteristics is set out in the European Commission’s guidance note on the operation of the CRD. It makes the point that certain pre-contractual information requirements in the CRD are also found in the UCPD.

The UCPD provides that the geographical origin of a product can be considered a main characteristic of the product and whilst the UCPD does not provide any formal requirement to indicate the geographical origin of a product, traders are prohibited from providing false or misleading information to consumers about this characteristic. However as the guidance refers, such information could be considered material as under Article 7 of the UCPD. If consumers consider the geographic origin of a product to be a material characteristic to their purchasing decision and if it is not obvious from the trader’s website, they can enquire from the trader as to its origin. The trader is prohibited from providing false or misleading information in relation to that question. There is no relevant EU legislation requiring goods originating outside the single market to display a country of origin label other than foodstuffs which are listed in relevant EU legislation and are required to display information about their place of origin.

The position with regard to .ie domain names is that where a website has a .ie domain name, this does not necessarily mean that the entity which owns and operates the website is based in Ireland. ComReg appointed We Are Ireland Online.ie as the relevant authority to register domain names in accordance with Section 32. (4)(a) of the Communications Regulation (Amendment) Act 2007. In order to register a .ie domain name, traders must apply to We Are Ireland Online.ie through their online application process. As part of their registration requirements, applicants must have a connection to Ireland and be able to provide documentation to prove that connection. Therefore, websites with a .ie registration may not necessarily prove that the trader is based in Ireland.

A new initiative by the European Commission will impact on the area of sustainable consumption in the future. In November 2020 the European Commission launched their New Consumer Agenda which presents a vision for EU consumer policy from 2020 to 2025. The agenda complements other Commission initiatives such as the Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plan. The Agenda puts forward priorities and key action points to be taken in the next 5 years together with Member States at European and national levels. This will, among other things, include a new legal proposal aimed at providing better information on sustainability to consumers and envisages that businesses, including SMEs, could play an important role in this transformation. The Commission plans to put forward a legislative initiative in 2021 on sustainable corporate governance to foster long-term sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour. Ireland supports this agenda and will play an active part in its development including the provision of better information to consumers and supporting cross EU standards in this regard.

I think a powerful motivator for progress in this space is increasing consumer awareness and changing consumer behaviour. It makes good business sense for retailers to respond to changing preferences in customer demand and to offer goods and services which meet such demands. It is therefore important that everyone involved, be they Government, non-governmental organisations, educators and advocates continue to raise awareness of the issue so that everyone takes into account environmental considerations when purchasing including ethical sourcing. Businesses may need assistance in meeting consumers expectations.

I am acutely aware that COVID-19 has brought considerable challenges for retailers - large and small, across the country. Trading online is a very important route for retail businesses to grow and improve their business offerings in the current crisis and it will be an important element in their recovery over the longer term. My Department proposed the COVID-19 Online Retail Scheme in response to the COVID-19 crisis and the urgent need for retail companies to achieve a step change in their online capability. The Scheme is administered by Enterprise Ireland. Applicant companies must be indigenous retailers, employing 10 or more people, have an existing online presence (e.g., website or social media), and have a retail outlet through which they derive the majority of their revenue. Successful applicants will be awarded funding to support a maximum of 80% of the project costs. Grants ranging from €10,000 to €40,000 will be awarded under the competitive scheme.