Month: December 2015

(Prague December 23, 2015) Within market monitoring, CTIA officers detected a product which poses serious risk of injury especially to children. A luminous pistol-shaped plastic fish with batteries and sounds is charged by button batteries that are accessible without the necessity to use any instrument. These batteries are small parts that can be easily inhaled or swallowed, so they can cause choking or suffocation and damage inner organs. The Czech Trade Inspection Authority prohibited further sale of the toy and distributor subsequently withd...

(Continuous report of 3rd quarter of 2015)(Prague, December 18, 2015) In the 3rd quarter of 2015, inspectors of the Czech Trade Inspection Authority kept inspecting consumer credit from previous periods and carried out other inspections focused on fulfilment of obligations determined by the Act on Consumer Protection. They detected various flaws in almost two thirds of 57 inspections and violations of the Act on Consumer Protection in one third of cases in the evaluated period. 36 on-the-spot fines amounting to 897,000 CZK were lawfully imposed...

(Final report of 2015)(Praha, December 16, 2015) Funeral services is a specific field because consumers use them when they lose their beloved ones. Hence, they perceive every flaw very personally. Therefore they expect that their requirements will be respected and that they will not have to face unfairness and misconducts usual in other fields. During an inspection action carried out from April to September, CTIA inspectors proved that this isn’t always the case. They discovered various flaws in 40% of 135 inspections. This was despite the fact...

(Prague, December 15, 2015) During monitoring of the market with toys, CTIA inspectors detected a toy intended for smallest users which failed requirements for safety. A whistling owl with no information about its manufacturer and origin contained small parts as well as excessive content of dangerous phthalates DEHP – the content was up to 140 times higher. The Czech Trade Inspection Authority ordered the distributor to withdraw the particular toy from the market and the owl was notified into the database of dangerous products RAPEX, file No. A...

(Ostrava, December 10, 2015) The first December weekend saw Christmas markets in a number of towns, including Olomouc where the first monitoring by the Czech Trade Inspection Authority was carried out. Besides stands with traditional Christmas drinks and refreshments officers inspected marking and labelling of textile, Christmas decorations and candles, sale of cosmetics, pyrotechnics and other goods. “I am happy to have a positive news for consumers. Except for usual flaws we didn’t detect any serious breaches and any dangerous products during...

(Continuous report of 3rd quarter of 2015)(Prague, December 7, 2015) Despite all legal measures, inspections and repeated warnings against sales presentation events, their organizers still have plenty of participants and space for manipulations and unfair commercial practices, including aggressive commercial practices. During the 3rd quarter, the Czech Trade Inspection Authority inspected tens of presentation sales events as well as contracts and detected flaws in almost 75% of cases. During the same period 42 fines amounting to more than 3.5 m...

(Continuous report of 3rd quarter 2015)(Prague, December 4, 2015) Inspection results of the Czech Trade Inspection Authority during the 3rd quarter of 2015 proved again that a high number of entrepreneurs in the online marketplace still fail to comply with requirements of applicable legal regulations that lay down the rules for this type of commerce. Flaws were discovered in 82% of 245 inspected e-shops and in total 186 fines amounting to more than 1 million CZK were lawfully imposed. “As indicated by our inspectors’ findings, there is a perman...

(Prague, December 2, 2015) Within the inspection action of the Czech Trade Inspection Authority focused on toys, CTIA officers inspected the assortment in the SAPA marketplace in Prague-Libuše. Toys are often purchased as Christmas presents, co sellers try to offer as widest offer of toys as possible. However not all toys are properly marked and labelled in compliance with applicable legal regulations despite being intended for the most vulnerable smallest users. Prohibition of sale was imposed on almost 200 pieces of toys amounting to the valu...

(Continuous report of 3rd quarter 2015)(Prague, November 30, 2015) In the 3rd quarter of 2015, CTIA officers inspected more than 850 points of sale of all kinds offering goods or services with discount or within special offers. 45% of vendors didn’t respect provisions of generally binding legal regulations. Most frequent breaches consisted of failure to inform consumer about prices and related incorrect billing which stood for almost a half of all detected flaws. The total amount of 298 fines lawfully imposed during the monitored period exceede...

(Final report of 2015)(Prague, November 18, 2015) The evaluation stated in the headline doesn’t relate to the weather or vendors’ earnings, but the results of inspections by the Czech Trade Inspection Authority focused on sale and services connected with the summer touristic season. Inspectors visited 1,351 workplaces offering goods or providing seasonal services and detected various breaches of obligations stipulated to traders by generally binding legal regulations in one third of all cases. In total 410 fines amounting to 930,500 CZK were la...