Act on State Supervision over Internal Market Related to Consumer Protection

Act No. 128/2002 Coll. on State Supervision over Internal Market related to Consumer Protection and amending and supplementing certain acts

This act regulates the state supervision over sale of products and provision of services to consumers at the internal (Slovak) market, powers of the Slovak Trade Supervision Office in performance of supervision over the internal market, protection measures and penalties for breach of law, as well as co-operation of the Slovak Trade Supervision Office with other public administration bodies and civil associations.

This Act shall not apply to the control of products in basic industry, food stuffs including production and preparation of foods in providing of catering services, tobacco and cosmetics products excluding the control over general conditions of sale of products and provision of services under a special regulation. The Act also does not apply to the supervision over safety and health safety of products.

The supervision over the internal market under the Act is performed by the Slovak Trade Supervision Office, which investigates, whether the products at its sale and services at its provision are in compliance with generally binding legal regulations, particularly whether they are being sold or provided safe, in accurate quantity, number, weight and quality.

At the same time, the Slovak Trade Supervision Office, within the supervision over the internal market, controls observation of price regulations, time of sale, conditions for warehousing and transport of products, as well as usage of verified determined measures and usage of the consumers mark ``e'' on consumers packed goods.

The role of the Slovak Trade Supervision Office is also to supervise compliance with other conditions stipulated by the generally binding legal regulations for performance of whole-sale and distribution activities, provision of services, particularly services in the area of tourism and accommodation services. The subject of the supervision is also observance of compliance of intellectual property rights important from the point of the consumer protection.

In connection with provision of consumer loans, the Slovak Trade Supervision Office supervises also observation of commercial terms and conditions of creditors and contractual terms offered to consumers under the Act on Consumers' Credits.

The Slovak Trade Supervision Office is internally divided up into the Central Inspectorate of the Slovak Trade Supervision Office and 8 lower inspectorates for each region in accordance with the current territorial-administrative division of the Slovak Republic.

The Slovak Trade Supervision Office performs its supervision through inspectors who are its employees. The Act strictly defines the conditions that have to be fulfilled by its inspectors. On the basis of supervision results the inspectors of the Slovak Trade Supervision Office are authorised to perform measures directly on the place where the control took place.

The individual inspectorates, as the authorities competent at the first stage in administrative proceedings with respect to the control of the internal market are authorised to decide on

(1)

suspension of introducing of products or series thereof to the market,

(2)

prohibition of introduction of product or its production series to the market, or

(3)

withdrawal of these products from the market or also from their use. The main reasons for the above are particularly protection of human life and health, property or environment.

The inspectorates are also authorised to impose penalties up to the amount of SKK 2,000,000 in individual cases.

This Act repealed the original Act on the Slovak Trade Supervision Office and amended and supplemented certain provisions of the Act on Consumer Protection, as well as provisions of certain other laws released thereto.

This Act came into force on 1 April 2002.

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