Market Surveillance General Directorate

Director: Ignat Arsenov

Total number of staff: 137

Responsibilities:

Organises and supervises the implementation of the decisions of the Commission and the orders of the President by the Regional Directorates;
Takes measures for the establishment, periodic updating and implementation of sectoral market surveillance programmes by groups of goods and services or risks to consumers;
Analyses and monitors market surveillance activities under point 2 and the results obtained;
Monitors, analyses and updates scientific and technical knowledge on the safety of goods and services;
Reviews and periodically evaluates the functioning of the surveillance activities and their effectiveness and, if necessary, makes proposals to improve the existing market surveillance organisation for the safety of goods and services;
Establishes priorities for the activities of the regional directorates;
Coordinates the interaction between the Regional Directorates in the field of control;
Supervises the activities of the Regional Directorates in resolving consumer complaints and the action taken on reports of infringements;
Organises and prepares summary reports on the results of the activities of the Regional Directorates;
Proposes to the Commission the imposition of compulsory administrative measures: ‘temporary suspension of the sale of dangerous goods’, ‘prohibition of the sale of dangerous goods’, ‘withdrawal of the product from the market’, ‘recall of the product from the end users’, ‘destruction of the product’, ‘prohibition of the production, import, export, remuneration or gratuitous placing on the market of the product’, ‘closure of the establishment or part thereof where the dangerous good or service is offered’, "temporary suspension of the activity of the manufacturer, distributor or person providing the service’ under the Consumer Protection Act, and ‘temporary closure’ of a tourist establishment in the cases provided for in the Tourism Act;
Organises the promulgation in the State Gazette of the orders under Article 92 of the Consumer Protection Act;
Collects and summarises information on dangerous goods and services placed on the market and makes it available to other control bodies;
Prepares information material and informs consumers and the public about the type of dangerous goods and/or services, the risks that the goods or services pose to the health and safety of consumers and the measures taken by the control bodies and coordinates the implementation of information campaigns at national level on the safety of goods and services;
Serves as the contact point of the Republic of Bulgaria under the Rapid Information Exchange System for Dangerous Goods (RAPEX) and informs the European Commission of any measure which aims to restrict, prevent or make the marketing of the goods subject to the implementation of prescriptions or instructions given by the control authorities;
Serves as a point of contact for consumers, manufacturers, distributors, service providers and control authorities for the collection and transmission of information on goods or services that do not comply with general safety requirements;
Maintains registers of goods and services posing a risk to the health and safety of consumers;
Organises the storage of dangerous goods recalled or seized by the Commission;
Organises and commissions tests to establish the conformity and safety of goods and services;
Notifies the Commission and proposes to the President of the Commission to notify the Minister of Tourism and the mayors of the municipalities in the cases provided for in the Tourism Act of violations committed;
Coordinates with other control bodies in carrying out control activities;
Supervises the implementation and enforcement of the President's individual administrative acts imposing compulsory administrative measures under the Consumer Protection Act and the Tourism Act;
Maintains a national consumer helpline and handles signals received through it;
Prepares methodological guidelines for carrying out checks on compliance with the requirements of the regulatory acts, the control of which is entrusted to the Commission;
Provides methodological assistance on consumer protection issues to the consumer protection units of the municipal administrations;
Liaises between the Commission and consumer, trade and tourist associations;
In the event of suspicions of unfair commercial practices, organises the collection of evidence, analyses it and proposes to the Commission to take the measures provided for in the Consumer Protection Act;
Analyses contracts with general terms and conditions offered to consumers and contracts used in certain industries or sectors of activity, assesses the existence of unfair clauses in them and proposes to the Commission measures for their elimination;
Proposes to the Commission guidelines or recommendations in relation to specific clauses in contracts with general terms and conditions or in contracts used in certain industries or sectors of activity; participates in negotiations with representatives of traders' associations on the preparation of model contracts applicable to certain industries or sectors of activity;
Organises and participates in the conciliation committees of the Minister for Economic Affairs for the alternative resolution of consumer disputes.