Russia: legal amendments for consumer rights

Russia's Ministry for Anti-Monopoly Policies and Promotion of Private Enterprise insists on enhanced consumer right guarantees. It is ready with necessary amendments to the acting legislation, say ministerial PR.

In particular, ministerial experts demand importers' liabilities for substandard commodities in case the overseas corporate manufacturer has no office in Russia to which complaints may be addressed. Another item guarantees consumer rights in on-line transactions. The bill the ministry has drafted also offers more drastic standards of information concerning genetically modified foodstuffs. It proposes deadlines to satisfy consumer demands in case of return of goods, and to offer substitutes for temporary use before a substandard item is finally replaced by a quality one.

To put seller/client interests into a reasonable balance, the bill limits consumer rights to break a contract as demerits are found in an expensive and sophisticated commodity. In that case, only bad defects can provide grounds for contract severance.