The consumer is a key subject of trade

Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan Arman Shakkaliyev held a press conference, during which he spoke about the department's strategy in the field of consumer protection.

For 9 months of this year, the number of citizens' appeals on trade violations exceeded the indicator of the same period last year and amounted to about 33 thousand cases.

In terms of service areas, the largest number of complaints is observed in the following areas: retail trade – 37%, e–commerce – 20%, household services - 10%, Housing and communal services – 6.9%, communication services – 5%.

These indicators indicate, on the one hand, an increase in consumer culture and legal consciousness, on the other, an increase in unfair business activity.

As Arman Shakkaliyev noted, the Ministry of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan constantly monitors consumer sentiment and correlates trade policy with them.

«According to the results of a sociological survey, last year out of 10 thousand respondents, 31% faced non–compliance with the expiration dates and storage standards of food, 24% of respondents were dissatisfied with the quality of goods, 19.2% complained about the lack of information required by law about food products», – отметил Арман Шаккалиев. – Arman Shakkaliyev said. – The Ministry of Trade and Integration appoints inspections for all applications. However, the effectiveness of consumer protection depends not only on the activities of government agencies, but also on non-governmental institutions for consumer protection. Civil society is the main defender against the dominance of low-quality goods and other abuses in the domestic market».

In order to integrate the activities of public associations in the interests of protecting the consumer market, the Ministry of Trade and Integration created a Situational Headquarters in the spring of this year, which included representatives of relevant government agencies, bona fide business entities and public consumer associations.

As a result of the revealed violations, the Ministry canceled 63 declarations of conformity of food products and more than 200 documents on conformity assessment.

Since the beginning of the year, administrative fines in the amount of 147 million tenge have been imposed on unscrupulous business entities, more than 800 million tenge has been collected in favor of consumers.

По словам Армана Шаккалиева, в целях защиты потребителей в Казахстане предлагается запустить новый публичный концепт «Сапалы өнім», для которого уже подготовлен базовый набор законодательных инструментов и механизмов. Разработаны поправки в Гражданский и Гражданский процессуальный Кодексы РК, в законы «О транспорте в РК», «О туристской деятельности в РК» и ряд других об усилении роли общественных институтов, включая введение института Омбудсмена по вопросам защиты прав потребителей.

According to Arman Shakkaliyev, in order to protect consumers in Kazakhstan, it is proposed to launch a new public concept «Sapaly Onim», for which a basic set of legislative tools and mechanisms has already been prepared. Amendments have been developed to the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes of the Republic of Kazakhstan, to the laws «On Transport in the Republic of Kazakhstan», «On Tourism activities in the Republic of Kazakhstan» and a number of others on strengthening the role of public institutions, including the introduction of an Ombudsman for consumer protection.

It is planned to give public associations of consumers the right to select samples of goods and purchase services or works within the framework of public monitoring of the internal market, to introduce the possibility of filing lawsuits by them in defense of an indefinite circle of persons and other innovations.

According to the Minister, the implementation of these measures will contribute to the effectiveness of legal regulation in the consumer market, social stability and the growth of social security of citizens.