Vujović: The essence of all legal solutions must be consumer protection and the creation of a stable business environment

Additional clarifications and uniform guidelines for the application of the Consumer Protection Law are necessary to avoid different interpretations in practice and ensure consistent protection of consumer rights, it was announced at a roundtable held at the Chamber of Commerce (PKCG).

Secretary of the Board of the Trade Association of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Montenegro, Milica Lazarević, said that new legal solutions open up numerous practical issues for companies, which is why it is important to ensure an open dialogue between the economy and institutions.

"The goal of this event is not only to interpret legal provisions, but also to create space for a partnership between institutions and the economy, so that the law is applied in a way that simultaneously protects consumer rights, but also enables a predictable and sustainable business environment," said Lazarević at the event titled Implementation of the Consumer Protection Law in Practice: Challenges, Dilemmas and Answers to Economic Issues.

The meeting, as announced by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Montenegro, brought together representatives of the economy, competent institutions and the professional public, with the aim of considering, through an open discussion, doubts in the application of certain legal provisions and contributing to their clearer and more uniform interpretation.

Director General of the Directorate for Internal Market and Competition at the Ministry of Economic Development (MER), Jasna Vujović, said that she was very satisfied with the large response from business people at the roundtable, emphasizing that this kind of interest confirms that consumer protection is becoming one of the key topics in the European integration process of Montenegro.

She recalled that the new Consumer Protection Law was recently adopted, as well as a number of other important regulations that impose new obligations on traders and business entities.

Vujović announced new amendments to the law by the end of the year, through which additional European directives will be implemented into domestic legislation, and that the proposed solutions and their implementation in practice will be jointly analyzed with representatives of the economy.

According to her, adequate implementation of regulations by traders is the key to a successful negotiation process, but also to quality protection of consumer rights. Speaking about the challenges in this area, she particularly highlighted the need to improve collective consumer protection.

The focus of the work of the competent authorities in the coming period will, as she said, be on unfair business practices, unfair contractual provisions and aggressive business models, in accordance with the practice of European Union countries.

"The essence of all legal solutions must be consumer protection, but also the creation of a stable and predictable business environment. Therefore, it is important that certain provisions be further specified so that their application is equal for all market participants," Vujović stated.

Željko Tomović from the Ministry of Economic Development assessed that such meetings are important because they enable direct exchange of experiences between the economy and institutions, which contributes to a better understanding of problems that arise in practice.

According to him, open dialogue is the best way to find sustainable and functional solutions.

"Through continuous communication, it is possible to achieve better quality guidelines and more precise interpretation of regulations. The common goal of all stakeholders must be a regulated market, legal certainty and a high level of consumer protection," said Tomović.

The roundtable was also attended by the Chief Market Inspector, Marina Radulović, who presented experiences from the previous implementation of the Consumer Protection Law and pointed out the most common dilemmas that arise during inspections.

Radulović pointed out the importance of proper and transparent consumer information, especially in the area of ​​price display, promotional campaigns and product labeling. She particularly emphasized the practical application of legal provisions governing the display of discounts and promotional benefits.

During the discussion, it was announced that the business sector supports the improvement of consumer protection standards, but that for the correct and consistent application of the law, it is necessary to provide precise and practically applicable rules. Speaking about the challenges faced by retailers, it was pointed out the specifics of the business of companies that operate through different formats of retail outlets, from discounters to large and small markets, in which there are different pricing policies.

The meeting raised the question of whether a retailer operating through multiple formats of retail outlets, such as discount stores, large and small markets, can communicate a discount in a way that it is displayed in relation to the lowest selling price from the last 30 days in the facility with the lowest price category, regardless of the fact that the discount may be higher in other facilities due to different pricing policies.

The issue of promotional campaigns that use the phrase "discount up to x%" was also discussed, especially in cases where such a benefit applies to a predefined number of items in the catalog. There was a discussion about whether it is in accordance with the Consumer Protection Law for a catalog to contain a general promotional message about a discount on the cover page, while the products within the catalog are displayed exclusively at the current price, without displaying the previous and discounted price.

Radulović emphasized that the goal of inspection supervision is the consistent application of laws and the protection of consumer rights, but also the creation of a clear and predictable framework for the operations of business entities.

"It is important that the rules are sufficiently precise and clearly defined so that their application is uniform in practice, both for business entities and supervisory authorities," Radulović stated.

During the discussion, it was highlighted that in practice, dilemmas often arise regarding when a certain product can be considered defective goods, and how information should be communicated to consumers in order to ensure full transparency, but also to avoid misinterpretations. It was particularly emphasized that certain categories of food products have naturally shorter shelf lives, which in itself does not mean that the goods in question are non-compliant or defective.

Participants also pointed out the importance of more clearly defining the obligations of traders in the part related to informing consumers about product characteristics, terms of sale and possible deviations from the usual properties of goods, in order to ensure consistent application of the law and legal certainty for both consumers and businesses.

The meeting assessed the need for uniform guidelines for the implementation of the Consumer Protection Law, in order to ensure consistent practice, improve legal certainty and further strengthen consumer confidence. Also, the need to organize new similar events that would address specific topics covered by the Consumer Protection Law was expressed.

The participants agreed that continued cooperation between the economy, institutions and regulatory authorities is essential for improving the business environment and more efficient implementation of regulations in this area. The authorities invited representatives of the economy to submit all suggestions and examples from practice to be considered in the process of drafting amendments to the Consumer Protection Law, which is announced for September.