News

Consumer rights protection as a guideline for developing the EAEU business activities has become a talking point at the round table organized by the Eurasian Economic Commission involving the Union of Soft Drinks and Mineral Water Producers.

The round table attendees stressed the importance of involving the business community in implementing the Strategic Directions for Developing the Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025 in the field of consumer rights protection.

The importance of implementing the principles and criteria of fair business practice enshrined by the Commission’s Board to ensure quality guarantees, safety of goods and services, awareness and proper protection of consumer rights was noted.

"Such dialogue with the business community is of prime importance for building an interstate system of consumer rights protection within the EAEU", stressed Natalia Zhukova, Director of the Department for Sanitary, Phytosanitary and Veterinary Measures.

The round table attendees from Rospotrebnadzor and the Consumers Union of the Russian Federation have presented their national experience of improving the system of state control in the field of consumer rights protection, the main direction of which is to prevent violations in the field of consumer rights protection and implement self-examination procedures being conducted by the business community involving public consumer organizations.

Representatives of the soft drinks and mineral water industry from Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Russia have presented their experience of applying voluntary standards and obligations, including those related to lowering the sugar content in manufactured products as well as implementing voluntary marking. This is important for raising consumer awareness about composition of the purchased products.

Representatives of the WHO Regional Office for Europe reported on the global community’s international practice and efforts aimed at preventing diet-related diseases. According to Natalia Zhukova, there is a huge potential for scaling up interaction between the EEC and the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Europe in addressing the issues of ensuring sustainable consumption which have an important impact on public health indicators.

In order to unleash this potential, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the EEC and the World Health Organization's Regional Office for Europe later last year. In furtherance of the Memorandum, it is planned to take joint efforts that contribute to supporting measures taken by the EAEU countries to protect and promote public health based on ensuring the quality of food products.

"Promoting successful business practice models to protect consumer interests within the EAEU is one of the important areas of joint work of the Commission and the Union countries. This enables encouraging the business community to implement responsible and sustainable production as well as ensuring consistent quality of products catering to the needs and expectations of consumers", Natalia Zhukova summed up.