Table of Contents:
- What is Distance Selling?
- Methods for Acquiring Products Subject to Verification by the Authority
- Controlled Purchase
One of the elements of the proposed General Product Safety Act (draft law of July 29, 2024) is to empower the Provincial Trade Inspection Inspectors with the competence to control products offered for distance selling.
According to the justification for the draft law, the proposed solution is intended to address the widespread adoption of e-commerce.
The control of products offered for distance selling can be conducted through a postal operator or via means of distance communication.
What is Distance Selling?
Distance selling is defined in the draft law as the introduction or making available of a product on the market within an organized system of concluding distance contracts, without the simultaneous physical presence of the parties, exclusively using at least one means of distance communication.
Methods for Acquiring Products Subject to Verification by the Authority
To acquire a product subject to verification, the authority conducting the control may request the controlled entrepreneur to provide the product for inspection or perform a controlled purchase. During a controlled purchase, the identity of the inspector is not revealed until the control report is prepared and delivered to the controlled entity. The legislator believes that a controlled purchase should be used in situations where the authority receives numerous complaints and notifications about a specific product offered by a seller.
Controlled Purchase
A controlled purchase will be carried out by placing an order through a Trade Inspection inspector using a postal operator or electronic communication, with data that prevents the identification of the controlling authority. To ensure the inspector’s anonymity, they may use false data (name, address, email different from the official one). The process of the controlled purchase will be recorded with a device that captures image or sound in a way that allows the identification of the controlled party and the purchased product.
The product obtained during the controlled purchase is inspected to determine whether it qualifies as a sample. In remote control situations, there is only one product sample, and no control sample. The inspection and qualification of the received product are documented in a report.
Once the received product is qualified as a sample, it is subjected to organoleptic or laboratory tests depending on the type of goods, and a test report is prepared.
In the case of a controlled purchase, the authorization to conduct the control and the inspector’s official ID are shown to the controlled party remotely within 7 days from the preparation of the test report by the controlling authority. These documents, along with the inspection report, are provided or shown remotely simultaneously. The presentation of the ID and authorization does not include sending scanned copies of these documents to the controlled party.
The time from the controlled purchase to the presentation of the authorization and official ID remotely is not counted as part of the duration of the control.
The proposed changes are scheduled to come into effect on December 13, 2024.
