Agreements Bolster Better Business Across Borders

Compiled ByDeborah Austin BBBOnLine -- a subsidiary of the Council of Better Business Bureaus -- has signed two major agreements with Asia-Pacific organizations to promote safe global and cross-border e-commerce. One Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed with the Guangdong Consumer Council of China; the other with the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Japan Direct Marketing Assn., and the Korea Institute for Electronic Commerce. The MOUs have five goals:

Consistent high e-business standards despite differing government regulations;

Effective cross-border e-consumer remedies often not possible through court systems;

Recognizable consumer protection trustmark;

Competitive ability for small/medium businesses that commit to the international standards;

Efforts toward joining a larger Global Online Trust Alliance. That global alliance was announced this spring by BBBOnLine and European business organizations Eurochambres and the Federation of European Direct Marketing.