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Summary 2008
The Consumer Protection Board (CPB) of Estonia was established in 1994 with the purpose of protecting and representing the rights and interests of consumers in accordance with legislation. The Consumer Protection Board is a government authority within the area of government of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communication, which implements consumer protection at national level.
As stipulated in the Consumer Protection Act of Estonia, the Consumer Protection Board deals with the concerns of a single consumer, observing the principles of UN and European Union consumer protection policies.
In Estonia, the Consumer Protection Act has been enforced to ensure consumer rights, stipulating the following fundamental rights to:
- demand and obtain goods and services which meet the requirements, are harmless to the life, health and property of the consumers, and are not prohibited from being owned or used;
- obtain necessary and truthful information on the goods and services offered in order to make a conscious choice, and to obtain timely information on any risks relating to the goods or services;
- obtain information on consumer law and other issues relating to consumption;
- obtain advice and assistance if their rights are violated;
- demand compensation for any patrimonial or non-patrimonial damage caused to them;
- request that their interests be taken into account and that they be represented through consumer federations and associations in the decision-making process on consumer policy issues.
On December 12, 2008 the Consumer Protection Act was amended and by that EU directive 2005/29/EU on unfair commercial practices was harmonised.
From the 1st of November of 2008 a new Advertising Act was instated in Estonia and it made the requirements stricter in many fields – for example in the case of financial services, alcohol, tobacco, gambling and other commercials.
Estonian consumer protection policy is largely based on conflict-avoiding principles, which aim is to improve the awareness of both the consumers and traders, therefore contributing to the operating of the consumer market and the implementation of good trading practice.
Main tasks of the consumer protection board
The main tasks of the Consumer Protection Board in protecting the interests of consumers may be divided into three larger categories:
- Exercising market supervision in the consumer market. Today, the Consumer Protection Board is required to provide supervision over compliance with approximately 30 different legal acts. The Consumer Protection Board works in close co-operation with other supervisory authorities and international organisations that conduct market supervision. Among other activities it is important to highlight the following supervision activities carried out by the CPB: supervision of product and service safety, supervision of advertising and the protection of the consumers economic interests.
- Increasing the awareness of consumers, which includes the advising and educating of consumers.
- The settlement of consumer complaints in purpose to carry out the out-of-court settlement and act as the primary mediator between traders and consumers.
For out-of-court settlement of consumer complaints is created the Consumer Complaints Committee, which is an independent institution operating at the Estonian Consumer Protection Board. The Committee was created in 2004 and the principles of the Committee are set in the renewed Consumer Protection Act, which was forced in 2004.
The Committee functions as the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution Body) and is charged with settling disputes arising from contracts between consumers and traders, when one of the parties is a trader registered in Estonia and the other party is a consumer as an individual who has purchased goods or services for private consumption.
The resolutions of the Committee are not binding for the parties. If parties are not satisfied with the resolution, they can turn to court.
Conclusions from 2008
As of 1st of January 2008, the personnel of the Consumer Protection Board consisted still of 62 employees, among them the Board has 1-2 representatives in county divisions (12). Total amount includes also 2 employees of the European Consumer Centre of Estonia. The budget of 2008 amounted 17,5 mln EEK (1,1 mln euro).
For settling of consumers` cross-border complaints and for provision of information in reference to the cross-border purchases was established in April 2005 theEuropean Consumer Centre of Estonia, which works as an independent department of the Consumer Protection Board. The 2008 was the fourth year of business for the European Consumer Centre of Estonia. The Centre is also a member of the European Consumer Centres Network. In case of need, the complaints handled in ECC will be forwarded for the further settlement to the Consumer Protection Board or to the Consumer Complaint Committee.
Conclusions from 2008
As of 1st of January 2008, the personnel of the Consumer Protection Board consisted still of 62 employees, among them the Board has 1-2 representatives in county divisions (12). Total amount includes also 2 employees of the European Consumer Centre of Estonia. The budget of 2008 amounted 17,5 mln EEK (1,1 mln euro).
The year 2008 was a successful year for Consumer Protection Board. The Board continued to be actively engaged in market supervision and consultation of consumers. Additionally to the activities foreseen in the annual working plan for 2008, many activities of the Board were initiated on the basis of complaints received from the consumers. In comparison with earlier years, one can admit that by the help of the Board, the situation on Estonian consumer market has improved.