Competition and consumer affairs
We provide consultancy and act as one of Finland’s enforcement authorities for competition and consumer affairs. We promote healthy and fair competition and help to protect consumers’ rights. Our goal is to maintain consumers’ trust in the market and provide a level playing field for businesses.
Our role in the sphere of competition and consumer affairs is to
- enforce the rules on the disclosure of price information in advertisements,
- enforce the Measuring Instruments Act together with the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes),
- ensure that package holiday operators who have a legal obligation to register their business do so,
- coordinate international relations with other EU countries,
- enforce competition law,
- enforce the rules on consumer credit marketing, and
- prepare competition and consumer policy reports together with the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority.
Competition and consumer policy reports
We conduct surveys and comparisons of matters related to competition and consumer policies together with the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA).
Entrepreneurs must submit information about the prices of consumer goods and services to the FCCA for the compilation of the reports. The FCCA may also order the information to be submitted to the Regional State Administrative Agency responsible for collecting the data.
Consumer affairs and working with the EU
We participate in the enforcement of price display and consumer credit marketing regulations within the European Union. We can report violations made by companies in the joint database of EU member countries. If necessary, we can also assist a supervisory authority of another EU member country with the investigation of violations made by company operating in multiple different countries.
The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA), meanwhile, acts as the agency representing Finland in the EU’s Consumer Protection Cooperation Network responsible for enforcing EU consumer protection laws to protect consumers’ interests. As a liaison agency, the FCCA is responsible for coordinating analyses and implementation of consumer protection measures.
We can intervene in the operations of a company registered in an EU member country if it fails to provide information about prices in accordance with the regulations. We can intervene in the display of prices within the EU or in international trade. The objective of these efforts is to prevent any violations detected in one country from occurring in other countries. This helps us increase consumer confidence and improve the opportunities of entrepreneurship for companies operating legally.