• The new project was launched with a study visit of Armenian experts to Poland from 14-23 September.
• Representatives of the Armenian Competition and Consumer Protection Commission visited the headquarters and regional offices of UOKiK as well as the Provincial Inspectorates of Trade Inspection (WIIH).
• The goal of the cooperation is to support Armenia in building a modern system for consumer and competition protection.

The project entitled “Institutional Support of the Competition Protection Commission in the development of the consumer and competition protection in the Republic of Armenia” is another initiative implemented by UOKiK as part of the Polish Aid development cooperation programme, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. This year’s activities focus on providing Armenian experts with practical knowledge on the application of national and EU consumer and competition protection laws.

The 10-day visit of Armenian Commission experts was the first stage of the project and focused on the practical aspects of consumer protection enforcement. Meetings in the branch offices of UOKiK in Poznań and Gdańsk were held in a job shadowing format and addressed, among others: combating unfair practices in digital markets, including the use of digital tools and electronic evidence in investigations and the problem of dark patterns in e-commerce, and in the alternative investment markets. Examples of violations of collective consumer interests and abusive clauses in event ticket sales systems were also discussed. This was supplemented by visits to Provincial Inspectorates of Trade Inspection, during which Armenian experts had the opportunity to learn about the activities of the Trade Inspection in the field of product safety and its cooperation with the Customs and Tax Service, as well as its role in the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) system in Poland.

In Warsaw, training sessions held at the UOKiK headquarters covered topics such as cooperation with consumer NGOs, market monitoring and consumer complaints analysis, product compliance, obligations under the Omnibus Directive, price indication rules, and the Office’s consumer communication activities.

The next stage of the Polish-Armenian cooperation will be training workshops in Yerevan in October this year.

For more information about the Polish Aid programme, please visit: https://www.gov.pl/web/polishaid.