Consumer rights have undergone a profound change in recent years. This was primarily related to Poland's accession to the EU. As Poland has introduced the European Community legal system, the scope of consumer protection has been widened and the legal control in this respect has been strengthened. The main body responsible for consumer protection is the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (www.uokik.gov.pl).
In case of number of products (like toys, food, cosmetics), Polish legal regulations set out safety norms. Other products must comply with the Act on General Product Safety of 12th December 2003, Journal of Laws No. 229 item 2275). The act prevents unsafe products from entering the market and puts a number of obligations on the producers - starting with the labelling of the product, research, providing consumers with information allowing for proper assessment of potential threats, and ending with the obligation to inform the president of the Office, should the producer find out that his already marketed product is unsafe.
The president of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has a right to force withdrawal of unsafe products from the market, to investigate and make decisions about practices which violate consumer rights, and intervene, should an agreement of sale include illegal clauses, which do not comply with law or accepted practice.
Such interventions are on the rise in Poland. But, apart from the state of the legal system, the other crucial factor is consumer awareness - so far, the cases of consumers suing producers have been few. It can be however expected that consumer awareness will increase - and any company willing to conduct business activity in Poland should take it into consideration.
More information about this field of regulation and about interventions of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is available at:
http://www.uokik.gov.pl/en/
http://www.uokik.gov.pl/en/consumer_protection/
