Month: February 2013

(Monitoring of fuel quality in January 2013)(Prague, February 19, 2013) Inspections of fuel quality have continued in 2013 by sampling fuels offered at filling stations on the whole territory of the Czech Republic. Until the end of the year, at least 2,650 samples of motor fuel will be taken, including 1,000 motor petrol samples, 1,200 motor oil samples, 150 LPG samples, 50 mixed fuel samples and 250 samples of other fuel types. Further improvement of operational discipline of the whole distributional chain from producers to sellers of fuels an...

(Final report of 2012) (Prague, February 13, 2013) In 2012, the Czech Trade Inspection Authority participated in the international PROSAFE project focused on lighters safety. The inspectors also cooperated with the customs authorities when supervising the Czech market. Random controls of shops with the assortment of lighters, including e-shops, were carried out in all regions of the Czech Republic. The inspectors imposed bans on sale of 4,312 pieces of lighters amounting to 91,711 CZK, including several types of the so called “novelty” lighters...

(Prague, February 12, 2013) Children simply love toys and adults don’t miss any opportunity to buy these products for them. But where to put toys when there is no space in the room anymore? Manufacturers have the solution – they offer practical foldable baskets in which children’s treasures can be put quickly. However, such baskets sometimes aren’t safe! This is the case of the basket Beruška which was produced from poor quality materials causing that in a test the wire spiral shaping the basket’s skeleton broke and sharp tips shaping the cap p...

(Final report of 2012)(Prague, February 7, 2013) Presentation events have become a nightmare for many seniors because these pleasant trips changed through the years into a threat causing fear of how to pay debts into which the elderly people fall. These customers have low legal literacy and naively trust those “nice gentlemen offering the best goods which cannot be bought anywhere else”. And who would resist the prize whose value is tens of thousands Czech crowns? Who cares that you can win it only when you buy goods amounting to thirty thousan...

(Final report of the project of 2012) (Prague, February 5, 2013) Controls of amusement devices are easy. In 2012, the Czech Trade Inspection Authority focused especially on ensuring security of users at various events and places where classic rides, tents or inflatable attractions (jumping surfaces) were operated. The CTIA inspectors didn’t influence or eliminate the operation of the devices when inspecting them. Totally 78 operators, 17 manufacturers, 2 importers and 9 distributors of various amusement devices were checked. In three cases, the...

(Final report of 2012)(Prague, January 31, 2013) The time of winter sales has come and discounts provided on anything are simply everywhere. The inspectors of the Czech Trade Inspection Authority continuously monitor these vendors’ activities and in 2012 they checked totally 2,948 supermarkets and hypermarkets operated by chain stores, hobbymarkets,  both larger and smaller shops, boutiques, and other premises including e-shops offering sales or action discounts on goods. Last year, more than one third of the checked vendors (36.4%) breached th...

(Results of laboratory analysis of jewels)(Prague, January 29, 2013) After one year, the Czech Trade Inspection Authority repeated the inspections of jewels offered at jewelleries. The inspectors checked whether vendors deceit consumers when offering jewels with stones whose composition does not correspond with the declaration. Totally 7 samples of jewels were taken in three shops in the very centre of Prague and in two jewellery shops in Český Krumlov. The samples were laboratory tested at the Prague Institute of Criminology. The expert analys...

(Results of the inspection of wallpaper products)(Prague, January 28, 2013) When inspecting the assortment of decorative wallpapers, the Czech Trade Inspection Authority focused on 74 distributors and found breaches of obligations as provided by the applicable legal regulations in 39 cases, i.e. more than a half of the inspected subjects. Breaches of the Act on Technical Requirements for Products were detected in 21 distributors given that the wallpapers placed on the market after January 1, 2011, were not marked with the CE marking or the dist...