In accordance with the Address of the Head of State to the People of Kazakhstan dated September 1, 2023 "The Economic Course of Fair Kazakhstan", the Ministry of Trade and Integration has begun implementing measures to protect the domestic market and support domestic producers. As part of this assignment, the Sapaly Onim social project was launched, aimed at protecting consumers' rights from low-quality products through the implementation of a public control tool. Bulat Tanabergenov, Acting Chairman of the MIT Consumer Protection Committee, announced this on the CCS site.
"We believe that the identification of low-quality products will protect consumers, identify unscrupulous manufacturers and support honest ones, create an incentive for the production and sale of high-quality products. According to the results of 11 months of this year, in all regions, public organizations selected more than 2 thousand items of products, of which 1,423 types, or 71%, violations were detected. The main share of violations was revealed in terms of labeling requirements – the lack of information about the product, its composition, and in the official language," the speaker noted.
228, or 16% – violations of sanitary and epidemiological requirements (this is a discrepancy in composition, sale of expired goods, lack of relevant documents).
For the violations identified, appropriate measures of administrative responsibility of business entities were taken, as well as declarations of conformity of products were canceled and suspended until violations were eliminated.
Bulat Tanabergenov also focused on legal reforms. At the sixth meeting of the National Council of Public Trust, the Head of State set the task of improving legislation on consumer protection. In order to implement this instruction, as well as taking into account the results of the analysis and monitoring of received appeals from citizens, responses and suggestions from public institutions and negative indicators of sociological research, the Ministry has developed draft laws aimed at building an effective and comprehensive system of consumer protection. On September 4, the draft laws were approved by the deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament in the first reading.
First, it is suggested that the consumer be given a choice on how to protect their rights. Settle the dispute in a pre-trial order, or directly file a lawsuit in court, or contact a government agency to bring an unscrupulous business entity to justice.
Secondly, the draft law proposes to enhance the role of public institutions for consumer protection, including through the introduction of an Ombudsman in this area. Additionally, public consumer associations will be given the right to select samples of goods and purchase services (works) as part of public monitoring of the domestic market.
Thirdly, it is proposed to extend the basic principles of consumer protection to the spheres of housing and communal services, communications, tourism, culture, trade, transport and other services, except financial, for comprehensive consumer protection in all spheres of human activity, which will also strengthen the intersectoral coordination of government agencies. In addition, at the stage of developing industry regulations, they will be subject to analysis by the Ministry for compliance with the requirements of the Law on Consumer Protection.
Fourthly, it is proposed to introduce civil liability of an entrepreneur, imposed in the form of a fine by the court in favor of a consumer whose rights were violated and not resolved at the pre-trial stage when contacting entrepreneurs.
Fifth, e-commerce will occupy a special section. The results of sociological research, as well as the increase in the number of complaints, are of particular concern. In Kazakhstan, goods and services are currently sold through online stores of retail chains, electronic trading platforms, marketplaces, and online ad services.
"At the same time, both domestic and foreign companies operate in the e-commerce market. According to the results of 11 months of this year, out of 56 thousand consumer requests, about 13 thousand (23%) were received via e-commerce. Last year – 9 thousand requests. Consumers mostly complain about the lack of information about the product and the seller; the inconsistency of the product offered with the description; the refusal of Internet sites to return the product and money. According to the existing problems, operational channels of interaction have been created in the form of e-mail, whatsapp chats, including with representatives of Wildberries, Caspian, OZONE," the speaker said.
Within the framework of the current Law on Consumer Protection, the requirements for an offline seller also apply to online sellers. However, they are not always respected, especially by sellers trading on electronic trading platforms. Therefore, the draft law proposes to oblige the owners of electronic trading platforms to conclude contracts with entrepreneurs to ensure their compliance with the requirements of consumer protection legislation. Failure to comply will entail not only appropriate liability for the unscrupulous seller, but also the loss of the opportunity to trade on the electronic platform.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mti/press/news/details/904349