Consumer rights
ENConsumer protection is one of the important areas of the national economic and social policy. Paragraph 5 of Article 46 of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania establishes as follows: “The State shall protect the interests of the consumers“. Therefore the State is constitutionally obligated to set standards as well as other requirements to be met by products and services placed on the market, also to monitor the compliance with these standards and other requirements. The legal acts establish various measures for the protection of consumer interests. Consumer protection in Lithuania covers a system of legal, organizational and economic means. By its Resolution No. 1404 of 11 November 2003 the Government of the Republic of Lithuania approved the National strategy for consumer rights protection. This Strategy establishes the goal of consumer protection, priority trends and tasks for 2003–2006. So, the policy on consumer protection in Lithuania is pursued in the following key directions: Safety of food products; Safety and quality of non-food products and services; Protection of economic interests. The pending tasks established in the National strategy for consumer rights protection can partly be named as the problem aspects in the filed of consumer protection. Currently Lithuania has to deal with the relevant issues relating to the following: improvement of the legal base for consumer protection, enhancement of the institutional system of consumer protection, increase of the role of public consumer organizations, development of consumer education. It should be noted that the same Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania approved the National consumer education programme of Lithuania, which sets out the following priorities: Development of a consumer education system; Consumer education; Consumer information and consultation [p. 193].
