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The EU Twinning Project “Harmonization with EU standards and institution building of the State Inspectorate of Protection of Markets and Consumer Right” was launched in Armenia in May 2012. The EU-funded project is aimed at developing and enforcing national market surveillance practices in line with the internationally recognized best practices in the sector with the aim of preparation for wider international agreements concerning the free movement of goods. Panorama.am held an interview with William Harris, Resident Twinning Adviser (RTA) of the project, about the project’s implementation process and the expected results.

- What can you say about the project and its objectives?

- The project’s objective is to enforce the institutional capabilities of national market surveillance and to bring them into line with the EU standards. It is envisaged to remove technical obstacles of trade, making it possible for Armenia to have free trade with European countries. The project is implemented in the context of the negotiations between Armenia and the European Union within the framework of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. As part of the removal of technical obstacles of trade and signing Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, we are going to bring three laws into line with the European legislation – laws on General Security of Products, on Market Surveillance and on Responsibility for Products. The latter is still being drafted. These laws are very important and the law on Responsibility for Products, which does not exist so far in Armenia, has great importance for the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

- Will the harmonization of the laws contribute to the development of the possibilities for trade with the European Union?

- This is really our goal. Any body for European market surveillance aims to prevent dangerous products from entering the market and reaching consumers. In Armenia, the market surveillance function is to ensure placing exclusively safe products in the market. This means that the inspection, having information about safe products, will ensure the protection of consumers. This is very important for the trade relations between Armenia and the European Union. The European Union will allow to sell Armenian products in the European Union states only when they are sure that there are only safe products in the Armenian market. Besides, the European Union must be sure that Armenian citizens enjoy the same rights as European Union consumers.

- What is the situation with the safety of products in Armenia?

- I think there are still a great number of products that need expertise.

The majority of the Armenian population cannot afford to buy expensive products. They mainly buy imported products. This means that we should take into consideration the current condition of Armenian market. In view of all this, we believe that the market surveillance activities should be intensified.

- We talked about imported products, but it is known that many imported non-food products are also low quality.

- I think the safety standards of imported goods should be reviewed and raised. Safety standards-related reforms are being carried out in Armenia. The safety standards of goods of primary importance such as building materials, toys, gas appliances, non-automatic measuring devices, electromagnetic compatibility devices will be brought into line with European standards.

As regards quality, it is necessary to improve the quality of non-food products in Armenia and the standards of tests of such goods should be raised to European standards. In reality, our program and the quality control improvement process should be in keeping with each other.

Such programs will be ineffective if all interested parties fail to work together. In other words, NGOs dealing with problems of consumer rights protection, scientific workers, business entities, and government members should cooperate and make much effort in this direction. The program’s implementation will help upgrade the Market Control Inspection, make positive changes in terms of market control in Armenia, improve the business environment and ensure the protection of consumer rights. As a result, we also plan to increase public awareness and ensure greater access of business entities and consumers to information.

- When will the results of reforms become tangible and consumer rights be better protected?

- Prior to the program’s completion, our partner beneficiaries will have to gradually bring their activities to conformity with European practices. In this case citizens will feel protected. We will supervise their activities during this period. In other words, market control practices in Armenia should be approximate to such practices in European markets. Of course, it does not mean that the practices used so far in Armenia are bad. But the Armenian government has made a decision to use European Union practices in our country.

- In Armenia the laws on consumer rights protection and the control of the non-food commodity market are so bad.

- I would not call the current laws bad, but we need to bring these laws into line with European standards. The process will take quite a long time. And the approximation schedule needs to be reconciled with the European Union and the Armenian government.

Our program is mostly related to institutional capacity building. Once the institutional capacities are built, the vision of the European Union will be put into practice in Armenia, ensuring equal protection of societies in EU countries and Armenia.

1 million-euro Twinning program is implemented in Armenia with the support of Northern Ireland Cooperation, Lithuania’s State Non-Food Product Inspectorate, and the State Market and Consumer Rights Protection Inspectorate of the RA Ministry of Economy.