Minister Micheál Martin announces the launch of a public consultation process on EU price display legislation
Mr. Micheál Martin T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment today (Friday, 20th October 2006) announced the launch of a public consultation process on consumer legislation concerning the display of prices on all goods offered for sale to the public. This public consultation is part of the second phase of a root and branch review of Ireland’s consumer laws. The first phase, the Consumer Protection (National Consumer Agency) Bill, announced on 24th August, will formally establish the new National Consumer Agency.
While announcing the start of the public consultation process, Minister Martin said: “The price of a product is probably one of the most influential pieces of information used by consumers when deciding to purchase goods. It is, therefore, important that the display of this information be useful and unambiguous.”
The Minister continued, “The provision of the unit and selling price can be valuable as they provide consumers with information and a means of comparing prices. This empowers consumers to make better choices.”
Regulations relating to the display of prices have been in force since 2003 and a non-exhaustive list of issues has been identified for review. Some of the issues include exemptions for small businesses in displaying unit prices, the display of unit prices in advertising and the practice by some retailers of displaying dual prices.
The Minister said, “I want to make sure that the public have a say in how price information is provided. Price display regulations have been in force for over three years. We are now at a suitable stage to see how they are working and if they need to be amended. It is for this reason I feel it is necessary to consult with the public to see if the information provided by traders at present is meeting their needs”.
The information received during the public consultation will be used to assist the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in their review of price display regulations.
ENDS
ETE1648
Notes for Editors
Micheál Martin, TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment is undertakinga root & branch review of Ireland’s consumer laws. The first phase of the review, the Consumer Protection (National Consumer Agency) Bill, was announced on 24 August 2006. The Bill included bans and tough sanctions for 31 anti-consumer activities and formally establishes the National Consumer Agency.
Phase two of the review will look at law governing consumer contracts including the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980 as well as a review of all secondary consumer legislation.
The public consultation announced today is part of the process of reviewing regulations, under S.I. No 639 of 2002, requiring traders to display prices on all goods offered for sale to the public. S.I. 639 of 2002 is confined to relationships between traders and consumers. It applies to goods sold in retail outlets, mail order, catalogue based sales and goods purchased from the Internet. The legislation does not apply to sales between suppliers and retailers. The EU Directive 98/6/EC (requirement to indicate Product Prices) was transposed by way of S.I. No 639 of 2002 and came into force on 1 March 2003.
The following is a non-exhaustive list of issues that have emerged since the Regulations were implemented:
- Exemption for small businesses from indicating unit price
- Exemption from indicating unit price for pre-packaged goods under 50g/50ml
- Display of sales notices
- Indication of unit prices in advertising
- Internet Shopping
- Dual pricing
- Delivery charges
- Sale of tiles and meat
- Itinerant traders
A copy of the Consultation paper is available at: -
http://www.djei.ie/commerce/consumer/publications.htm
ENDS
Last modified: 20/10/2006
| © 2011 Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation | Privacy Statement |
,
