Ordinance nr.58/2000
to modify and complete the Government Ordinance nr. 21/1992
on consumers protection
On the basis of article 107 al. (1) and (3) of the Romanian Constitution and article 1
let. U of the Law nr. 206 /1999 regarding the right of the Government to issue ordinances,
The Government of Romania issues the following Ordinance:
Art. 1 - Government Ordinance nr. 21/ 1992 on consumers protection republished in the Official Journal of Romania, Part I, nr. 75/23.03.1994 and its amendments are modified and completed:
Article 1 will be completed with alignment 2 :
" The provisions of this ordinance will be apply for the marketing of the new, worn-out and reconditioned products and to the services offered to the consumers, except the worn-out products which are sold as antiquities and the products designated to be repaired or reconditioned before using, provided that the seller have to inform the consumer about this."
Article 2 will have the following content:
" Art. 2: - According to the present Ordinance it means:
- quality: assembly of properties and characteristics of a product or service having the capacity to satisfy stated and implied needs;
- consumer: physical person who buys, gets, uses or consumes, products or services outside his trade or profession;
- economic agent: any physical or juridical person who produces, imports, transports, stores or sells products or parts of these or performs services;
- producer :
- any economic agent who manufactures a product or purposing to be a producer by placing his name, trade mark or other distinctive sign on the product, or reconditions it;
- the representative of manufacturer, when he has not the headquarters in Romania, or in his absence the importer of the product;
- any economic agent of the distribution chain if his professional activity can affect the characteristics of the marketed product:
- distributor: any economic agent of the distribution chain whose activity does not affect the characteristics of the product;
- seller : the distributor who offers the products to the consumer;
- performer : any economic agent who performs services;
- product : any good destined to the consume or for final, individual or collective use;
- safe product: any product which under normal or foreseeable conditions, does not present any risks or only the minimum risks, compatible with the product’s use.
The risks is considered to be acceptable and compatible with a high level of protection for the safety and health of consumers, taking into account the following points in particular :
- the characteristics of the product, including its packaging and the instructions for use ;
- the effect on other products with which the product can be used;
-the presentation of the product, the labeling, the instructions for use and any other indications and information provided by the producer;
- the category of the consumers at serious the risk when using the product.
The evaluation of the products safety will be done in conformity with the minimum conditions foreseen in the specifical regulations. If these regulations are missing, the evaluation of the will take into account the general conditions of safety that are specified in the Romanian, European and international standards. If these standards are missing, will be take into account the scientific and technological knowledge in the field.
- dangerous product: any product which doesn’t meet the conditions of safe product;
- product for a long time use: any complex product made from pieces and spare parts, designed and constructed to be used during the medium period of use and on those allowing repair and maintenance ;
- service: any activity, different from that resulting products, aimed at satisfying some consumers necessities;
- conformity statement: statement made by an economic agent or a service performer, informing on its own responsibility that a product or a service conforms to a norm or to other specified document;
- unfair term: any contractual term which has not been individually negotiated with the consumer if, by itself or together with other contract terms contrary to the requirements of good faith, it causes significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations to the detriment of the consumers;
- guarantee term: any time limit, starting from the date when the product or the service was obtained, until the date when the producer or the service performer shall be liable to the consumer for the repair or the replacement of the product or the service obtained, on its own cost, if the deficiencies are not the consumer responsibility .
- validity term: any time limit, established by the producer, until a perishable product or a product which in a short period of time can presents an immediate danger for the consumer health, keeps its specified characteristics, if the transport, manipulation, storage, and consume conditions were observed; in case of foodstuffs this validity term represents the consume time limit .
- minimum time durability: time interval established by the producer until a foodstuff keeps its specified characteristics, in the adequate storage conditions; the products for which a minimum time durability is established must not be dangerous after that date.
- the medium duration of use: time interval established in the technical documents or declared by the producer, or agreed between parties, during which the products for long time use have to maintain the prescribed quality characteristics, provided that all transport, manipulation, storage and consume conditions were observed;
- hidden vice: quality failure of a delivered product or service performed which was not and could not be known by the consumer by usual means of checking;
- unfair trade methods: restrictive or conditioning sale methods affecting the interests the consumers.
Article 4 will have the following content:
" Art. 4 - It is forbidden to put on the market dangerous products. The manufacturing, the import and the marketing of counterfeits or substituted products are forbidden;
Article 5 will have the following content:
"Art. 5 -The products will be marketed only during their validity term or during the minimum time durability established by the producer.
It is forbidden to modify the validity term or the minimum time durability written on the product, label or package".
5. Article 7 will have the following content :
" Art. 7- The economic agents are obliged:
a) The producers:
- to put on the market only safe products and, if the legal norms stipulate that, the products will be tested and/or certificated;
- to put on the market only the products which meet the quality requirements stipulated or declared;
- to stop deliveries and to withdraw from the beneficiaries the products being considered by the enforcement authorities to be dangerous or not to meet the quality requirements stipulated or declared;
- to provide hygienic and sanitary conditions in production according to sanitary norms in force.
b) The distributor:
- to make sure that the marketed products are safe and meet the quality requirements stipulated or declared;
- to stop the marketing of the products they consider or have information to be dangerous;
- to notify, immediately, the competent public authorities as well as the producer about the existence on the market of any product which they know that is dangerous;
- to withdraw from the market or from the consumers the products being considered by the enforcement authorities not fulfill the quality requirements stipulated or declared;
- to provide the technical conditions established by the producer, as well as hygienic and sanitary conditions during transport, manipulation, storage and marketing according to norms in force.
c) The performers of services:
- to use, within the performed services, only safe products and, if the legal norms stipulate that, the products will be tested and/or certificated and they have to announce immediately the existence on the market of any product that they know that is dangerous;
- to perform only the services that can not affect life, health and safety of the consumers or their economic interests;
- to carry out the quality requirements stipulated or declared as well as the contract terms;
- to assure, at the performance of the services, the technical conditions established by the producer, as well as hygienic and sanitary conditions according to norms in force.
6. Article 9 will have the following content:
"Art. 9 - The economic agents are obliged to market only safe products which meet the quality requirements stipulated or declared, and to not use unfair trade methods.
7. Article 15 will be completed with the alignments 2 and 3 :
"The reimbursement of the value of the product or service will be done at its up to date value.
The economic agent has the same obligations for the replaced product or service as well as for the product or service which were initially sold."
8. Article 20 will have the following content:
" Art. 20 - The producer has to inform about the denomination of the product, the denomination and/or the mark of the producer, the address of the producer, the quantity and by case the warranty, validity term, minimum time durability, main technical and quality characteristics, composition, some foreseeable risks, instructions for use, manipulation, storage and contrary use information.
The products for a long time use must have the guarantee certificate and by case the conformity statement, the technical book or instructions of use, the product installation conditions, using and maintenance conditions established by the producer.
The seller has to inform the consumers about the price of the product and he has to offer all the information and the technical documents which must accompany the product.
The information has to be written in Romanian irrespective of the country of origin of the product, without excluding the presentation of these information also in other foreign languages."
9. Article 24 will have the following content:
"Art. 24 - It is forbidden to present, by any ways, statements and indications, which are not in conformity with the parameters that characterize the products and services and cannot be proved.
10. Article 26 will have the following content:
" Art. 26 - The marketing of the products and the performing of the services are made in authorized places according the legal norms in force.It is mandatory to poster, at sight, the name of the company and the opening and closing hours.
11. Article 33 will have the following content:
" Art. 33 - The associations for the consumers’ protection which defend the rights and legitimate interests of the consumers in general, are, de jure, social partners in consultative bodies established in the present ordinance provided, they:
a) at the national level, have at least 3.000 members and branches in at least 10 districts;
b) at the districtual and local level, if they had a consumers’ protection activity of at least three years."
12. The letter "e" of article 38 will have the following content:
"e) to be consulted on the occasion of the elaboration of legal acts, of standards or specifications which define technical and qualitative characteristics of products and services destined to consumers."
13. The letter "k" of article 38 will be repealed.
14. The article 46 will have the following content:
" Art. 46 - It will be deemed as infringements, if are not done in such conditions as, according to criminal law, to be deemed as offenses, and it will be sanctioned :
a) the violation of the provisions of art. 4 al. 1, art. 7 let. a) and let. c) and art. 9, by contraventional penalty from 1.000.000 to 10.000.000 lei;
b) the violation of the provisions of art 5, art. 7 let.b), art.21-25 and art. 26 al. 1, by contraventional penalty from 500.000 to 5.000.000 lei;
c) the violation of the provisions of art. 10,11,13-15, 17-20 and art.26 al.2, by contraventional penalty from 250.000 - 2.500.000 lei. The sanctions established at al. 1 will be applied also to the juridical persons, in this case minimum and maximum limits are doubled."
15. After the article 46 it will be art. 46.1 and art. 46.2 with the following content:
" Art. 46.1 - Fail to permit, on all forms, of public administration bodies in charge with consumers’ protection and to fulfill their duties concerning prevention and struggling of facts which can affect consumers life, health or safety or their economic interests, it will be deemed as infringement are not done in such conditions as to be considered offences and is sanctioned by contraventional imprisonment of 15 days to 2 month or by fine of 200.000to 1.000.000 lei.
"Art.46.2 - The value of the fines foreseen to art. 46 and 46.1 will be brought up to date by Government Decision".
16. Article 47 will be repealed.
17. Article 48 will be repealed.
18. Article 49 will have the following content:
"Art.49 - The contraventions and the penalty foreseen to art.46 and 46.1 are ascertained by the representatives in power of the Office for Consumers Protection as well as by the authorized specialists of other bodies of public administration, according with the competences established by the legal acts in force.
In case of sanctions on contraventional prison this measure will be applied by the competent court of justice at the request of the enforcement body.
Police bodies are obliged, at the request, to provide the necessary assistance to persons in power or authorized, named at al.1, being in exercise of their duties or to accompany them, according to the circumstances.
19. Article 50 will be repealed.
20. After the article 50 will be introduce the art.50’ with the following content:
" Art.50- In order to limit the prejudice for consumers, the enforcement person can order the following:
1) To definitively stop the marketing and to withdraw the products which:
a) are dangerous, falsified and counterfeited ;
b) have the validity term or the minimum time durability expired; durability;
c) are forbiden by legal provisions.
2) To temporarily stop the manufacturing and the import of the products or the performance of the services, until the deficiencies are remedied, in the following cases:
a) are dangerous, falsified or counterfeited ;
b) it there are services which can affect consumers life health and safety;
3) To temporarily stop the market of the products or the utilization of these to the performance of services, until the deficiencies are remedied, if:
a) the products are not tested and/or certificated according the legal acts in force;
b) the products do not meet the qualitative requirements stipulated or declared;
c) the products do not present the identification elements as well as the accompany documents according to the provisions of art.18-22.
4) The destruction of the dangerous products definitively stop from the market, if this is the only way to stop the danger.
21. Article 51 will be repealed.
22 . Al.1 of art. 52 will have the following content:
" In the case where the offender did not pay the fine in the term of thirty days from the becoming definitive of the decision, and does not exist the possibility of putting it in force, the body of which the finding agent belongs will inform the court holding jurisdiction in the area, in order to covert the fine in contraventational imprisonment or, if the defender agrees to work for the public interest, taking into account the part of the fine which was paid."
23. Article 53 will be repealed.
24. Article 54 will be repealed.
" Art. 54- The dangerous products, falsified or counterfeited are confiscated by the specialized bodies nominated by law at the enforcement agent proposal.
The illicit profits obtained by the economic agents as a result of the facts mentioned at art. 4, art.7 let.a), al. 1, 2 and 3, art.7 let. b), al.1 and 2 and art. 7 let c), al. 1 and 2 from the present ordinance are seized as revenue at the state budget by the bodies nominated by law of the Ministry of Finances ".
25. Article 60 will be repealed.
Art.II- After art.60 will be introduced the art.60.1 with the following content:
Art.60.1 -The present ordinance is coming into force at 30 days from the publishing in the Official Journal of Romania.
The Government Ordinance no. 21/1992 on consumers’ protection, will be republished in the Official Journal of Romania, Part I, no. 75/23.03.1994.