At the sitting held on 4 October, the Committee on Trade and Tourism accepted, in principle, the Bill on Consumer Protection submitted by the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

Presenting the Bill to the Committee members, Minister of Trade and Services Slobodan Milosavljevic stated that the Bill had been prepared for two years, and the public debate involving all interested subjects lasted over a year. He believes that discussions and public debates are essential in the drafting of bills so as to keep mistakes down to a minimum. He stated that the Bill puts the consumers into the focus of the Serbian economic market, it institutes positive discrimination by obligating the service providers to inform the consumer before a contract is signed and for the service providers, it introduces an obligation to prove the quality of their product. The provisions of the Bill provide the average consumer in Serbia with full protection, the same as European Union consumers. The Minister added that the text of the Bill contains 15 European directives and mentioned the issue of consumer credits which will be regulated by a special law. Namely, he stated that, after a meeting with the National Bank of Serbia, it was decided that the consumer credit field not be regulated by this Bill but that the NBS and ministries of trade and services and finance propose a special law to regulate the field. That would honour the European directive and the domestic consumers would be protected the same as consumers in EU countries. The Minister said that the Bill on Consumer Protection was also discussed with the EU consumer rights protection Commissioner and that the Bill received positive marks, so he expressed his belief that after the Bill’s adoption in the National Assembly, Serbia would receive a positive mark in the part of the Progress Report relating to consumer rights protection. The Minister announced that if the NBS does not honour its promise and propose a law to regulate consumer credits, the Ministry of Trade and Services would initiate amendments and modifications to the Law on Consumer Protection so as to regulate the field.

In the debate on the Bill the Committee members considered some of the provisions of the Bill, focusing on the part regulating consumer credits, as well as the lack of a list of services of economic interest where the consumers need to be particularly protected. A representative of the National Consumer Organisation of Serbia took part in the debate.

Following the debate the Committee members accepted the Bill on Consumer Protection by a majority of votes, with the reserved opinion of deputy Zoran Ostojic.