[potatolicious]

When I was growing up in Taiwan, there was a private consumer-protection agency that actually seemed to work. It all came about after a rash of food poisonings, and a private organization came up with a certification stamp, and somehow (I'm not sure how) convinced most consumers to look for and demand the stamp on packages.

All in all, not at all unlike how government protection agencies work, but in this case entirely private and independent. The neat part is that, IIRC, their safety standards were mostly stricter than the US.

Probably the exception to the rule though.

[zumbojo]

I believe Underwriters Laboratories and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety would be US examples of similar private agencies.

[colanderman]

Funny, I haven't thought about UL since I was a kid. Do many consumers look for a UL stamp, or is it used more for legal defense if the device actually does malfunction?

The American Dental Association is another example. I do look for ADA-approved toothpastes.

[zumbojo]

I believe it ends up getting enforced at the retailer level; most major chains will refuse to purchase Christmas lights that are not UL listed, so you can be reasonably sure that the cheaply manufactured lights you purchase at Walmart don't burn your house down. They also seem to be providing education [1] and revising their standards [2] to discourage particularly ill-advised appliances such as electric turkey fryers.

[1]: http://www.ul.com/global/eng/pages/offerings/perspectives/co... [2]: http://ulstandardsinfonet.ul.com/scopes/1083.html