Croatian Consumer Protection Act Came Into Force

Zagreb, September 10 - Croatia’s new Consumer Protection Act came into force on September 8, 2003 and it represents an enormous advancement toward the protection of consumers’ rights in Croatia. The Act itself is the product of Croatia’s commitment to work on building civil institutions founded on democratic and European norms, as embodied in the provisions of the Stability and Association Agreement with the European Union. Indeed, the Consumer Protection Act goes a long way in improving transparency in consumer transactions, while also seeking to bring more balance in relations between buyers and sellers of consumer goods and services. The general principles of the new Act will allow a consumer to be better informed about the products or services that he or she is purchasing from the very onset of the transaction, while placing more checks and balances on the ability of sellers or advertisers to inappropriately influence the marketplace.

Such provisions range from the benign (such as providing a consumer with a clear, legible and correct receipt for any given transaction) to regulations dealing with ethics in advertising. For instance, the Act does not allow sellers to charge a fee for bags if such bags are imprinted with the name or logo of the seller, since the buyer is providing a benefit to the seller by “advertising” on behalf of the seller.

Another important issue is that new law enables customers to return the merchandise within the allowed period of time.

An interesting provision also relates to the need to protect public health of consumers by assuring that bags are balanced and not too heavy for the consumer or packed in such a way that would compromise the health of the individual. In terms of advertising, advertisers and marketing agencies are forbidden from using advertising that is unethical, offensive, harmful to children, or untrue, and marketers may not leave fliers at people’s homes where there are signs clearly indicating that advertising is not welcomed.