About us | Who we are

The Federation of German Consumer Organisations - vzbv

We are an umbrella organisation representing the 16 consumer centres (Verbraucherzentralen) of the German states as well as 26 other consumer-orientated associations. A number of influential non-governmental organisations act as supporting members.

Our objectives are to

• improve transparency regarding the production, characteristics and quality of goods and services
• achieve equality between consumers and providers
• promote sustainable consumption
• establish preventative consumer protection as a key political objective

The vzbv was founded in November 2000 as a result of the merger of three federal consumer organisations. We are funded by the Federal Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Nutrition and Agriculture and derive further income from the proceeds of publications, from membership fees and from project funds.

We are a non-profit and politically independent organisation. We employ a staff of over 100 people at our offices in Berlin.

 
A short or long version of our brochure can be downloaded as a PDF here:
download short version (PDF, 830KB)