A thematic exhibition “Consumers and their Rights” dedicated to the World Day of Consumer Protection is on show in the Legal Information Reading Room (room 207 b) from January 11 to March 28.

The Day was first celebrated on 15 March 1983, when it was fixed in the international calendar of holidays as World Consumer Rights Day, and has been celebrated annually since then.

Until the mid 80s, consumer rights were mainly regulated by civil law in the USSR. The normative acts regulated the rights, duties and responsibilities of subjects of contractual relations involving citizens, but at the same time they were not specifically aimed at regulating the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of consumers.

In the autumn of 1988, the first attempt to develop and implement specialized consumer protection legislation was made with the adoption of the USSR Law on Product Quality and Consumer Protection. This draft law was largely devoted to addressing and solving problems related to the quality of goods and services provided to consumers, but only one section focused on the protection of their rights. In May 1991, another statutory act was adopted to regulate relations in this area, the USSR Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights. However, due to the subsequent collapse of the USSR, it was never implemented.

As in the rest of the world, Belarus celebrates World Consumer Rights Day on 15 March. This decision was taken in 2000, when the Day was established at the state level. The quality of our products is monitored very strictly in our country, and food production is particularly well supervised to ensure the constant improvement of product quality, safety and healthiness. The main document regulating legal relations in the field of consumer protection in the Republic of Belarus is the Consumer Rights Protection Act. In addition to this law, consumer protection issues are regulated by the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus, resolutions of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus and other documents adopted pursuant to the law.

Despite the system of legal provisions governing consumer protection, it is worth noting that the rights of citizens can be violated. It is therefore essential that everyone is aware of the basic provisions of the legislation in force.

The exhibition features more than 80 documents: monographs, study guides, articles from collections and periodicals on current problems of legal regulation of consumer protection relations.

The exhibition consists of the following thematic sections:

Mechanisms of legal regulation of consumer protection in Belarus
Consumer protection in the context of legislative harmonization within the EAEU
The institute for consumer protection abroad
Consumer rights in the world of finance
Protecting the rights of consumers of housing and public utility services
Legal aspects of consumer protection in the provision of paid medical services
Liability for consumer fraud

The exhibition will be useful for employees of consumer and trade protection organizations, researchers, teachers and students, consumers in the field of consumer, trade and other services, and for the widest range of readers wishing to know how to competently protect their consumer rights.

The opening hours of the exhibition correspond to the library’s opening hours.
Admission is by the library card or by the Social and Cultural Centre ticket.

The books presented at the exhibition can be ordered through the electronic catalogue of the National Library of Belarus.

References

For more info: (+375 17) 293 27 28.

Official Documents Service Department