consumer protection and environmental regulations are quite an important part of the economic agenda of developed countries today. It is the pressure created by activists, environmental groups and various non-government organisations that has brought about this shift. But in this age of free market economy and trade liberalisation, the dialectical relationship between free trade and consumer and environmental protection has become a highly contentious issue all over the world.

Confrontation emerges from the fact that regulations hamper the process of free trade. Although this may be true, protection or regulation does not always slow down the process of free trade. This is because the economic strength of the