Consumer protection law comes into force

Trade Minister Slobodan Milosavljevic says the Law on Consumer Protection and Law on Trade came into force as of January 1. He noted that they represent umbrella laws in the sector that employs over 400,000 people. Consumer protection law comes into force Milosavljevic pointed out that, owing to the new Law on Consumer Protection, Serbia's citizens would be liberated from the obligation for proving that they had not got a product or certain services that they had paid for. When someone offers, sells or delivers something to consumers, this puts the person under the obligation to provide evidence that what the consumer receives is consistent with the actual technical feature or specifications of products or services, the trade minister explained. The new quality in the law is that when it comes to exercising consumers' rights, the possibilities in Serbia would resemble the situation in the EU countries, and this represents a civilized step forward in the situation as it is now in Serbia, Milosavljevic said. The Law on Consumer Protection introduced into the domestic legal system 15 out of the total of 16 European directives in the field of consumer protection rights, the trade minister noted, adding that the 16th EU directive was contained in the bill on financial services consumer protection that had been proposed by the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) and which should be adopted by the parliament over the next few weeks. Milosavljevic said that the Law on Trade introduced very specific instruments that would facilitate the implementation of trade development strategies. The law covers the three key objectives of the strategy: the preservation of small and medium enterprises, in terms of speed and ease of establishing new firms and the closure of existing ones; it also gives instructions on how to fight for new investment in the retail sector with the aim of increasing competitiveness; and provides incentives to boost local trade and its access to regional markets, Milosavljevic underlined. Trade participates with about 12 to 14 percent in Serbia's gross domestic product annually, and the country has about 45,000 registered companies and entrepreneurs in the retail sector, with more than 100,000 retail stores which employ over 400,000 workers, said Milosavljevic. Slobodan Milosavljevic (Tanjug, file)

Consumer protection law comes into force

Milosavljević pointed out that, owing to the new Law on Consumer Protection, Serbia's citizens would be liberated from the obligation for proving that they had not got a product or certain services that they had paid for.

When someone offers, sells or delivers something to consumers, this puts the person under the obligation to provide evidence that what the consumer receives is consistent with the actual technical feature or specifications of products or services, the trade minister explained.

The new quality in the law is that when it comes to exercising consumers' rights, the possibilities in Serbia would resemble the situation in the EU countries, and this represents a civilized step forward in the situation as it is now in Serbia, Milosavljević said.

The Law on Consumer Protection introduced into the domestic legal system 15 out of the total of 16 European directives in the field of consumer protection rights, the trade minister noted, adding that the 16th EU directive was contained in the bill on financial services consumer protection that had been proposed by the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) and which should be adopted by the parliament over the next few weeks.

Milosavljević said that the Law on Trade introduced very specific instruments that would facilitate the implementation of trade development strategies.

The law covers the three key objectives of the strategy: the preservation of small and medium enterprises, in terms of speed and ease of establishing new firms and the closure of existing ones; it also gives instructions on how to fight for new investment in the retail sector with the aim of increasing competitiveness; and provides incentives to boost local trade and its access to regional markets, Milosavljević underlined.

Trade participates with about 12 to 14 percent in Serbia's gross domestic product annually, and the country has about 45,000 registered companies and entrepreneurs in the retail sector, with more than 100,000 retail stores which employ over 400,000 workers, said Milosavljević.