• The event summarised two projects in the field of consumer protection.
• The meetings took place in Warsaw and Bydgoszcz on 12–14 November 2025.
• The aim of the cooperation is to support partner institutions in developing effective consumer protection systems.

In mid-November 2025, UOKiK hosted a joint study visit by delegations from Montenegro and Albania on consumer protection, organised within the framework of the EU’s TAIEX programme. This EU instrument enables flexible expert cooperation – including technical assistance and the exchange of information – between institutions from EU Member States and their counterparts in partner countries. The programme is financed by the European Commission.

The beneficiaries of the project were, on the Albanian side, the Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation, the Ministry of Justice and the Consumer Protection Commission, and on the Montenegrin side, the Ministry of Economic Development.

Training sessions during the first days of the visit at the authority’s headquarters in Warsaw covered:

• the practical aspects of enforcing the collective interests of consumers,
• the significance of decisions of the President of UOKiK for individual consumer rights,
• mechanisms for resolving cross-border disputes based on the practice of ECC Poland,
• Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR),
• UOKiK’s international cooperation, as well as its information and education activities.

In addition, issues related to market surveillance and product safety were discussed, including the inspection process for non-food products, the functioning of the Safety Gate and ICSMS systems, and inspections carried out by the Trade Inspection Authority.

On the final day of the visit, the delegations were hosted at UOKiK’s regional office in Bydgoszcz, where the discussions focused on topics such as the use of artificial intelligence in consumer protection, the collective interests of consumers in cases involving price quotations, and the Digital Services Act (DSA) — its legal concepts and the transposition of its provisions into Polish law.

The study visit summarised UOKiK’s year-long cooperation with consumer protection and market surveillance institutions in Albania and Montenegro.

As part of the project with Montenegro, a workshop and an expert mission were organised in Podgorica (September–October 2025). Their main objective was to strengthen the administrative capacity of beneficiaries to implement and enforce the EU acquis, particularly regarding the provision of digital content and services, as well as new regulations on general product safety. The exchange of good practices also allowed for the presentation of Polish solutions for inter-institutional cooperation in consumer protection. The project with Albania, meanwhile, included an expert mission to Tirana on consumer protection policies, regulatory frameworks, and their practical application.

The implementation of both projects forms part of UOKiK’s broader efforts to support Albania and Montenegro in their preparations for European Union membership.