Consumer Agency

Several laws assign supervisory responsibilities to the Consumer Ombudsman. The broad overall jurisdiction of the Consumer Ombudsman as the monitor of compliance with the Consumer Protection Act, however, is clearly the foundation of his or her supervisory role. Often this authority also covers activities for which provisions on the Consumer Ombudsman's supervisory role have been included in separate laws.

Consumer Ombudsman supervisory tasks are assigned in the following laws:

• Consumer Protection Act (Chapter 2, Section 10; Chapter 3, Section 4)
• Act on the Collection of Debts (Section 12)
• Act on Guaranties and Third-Party Pledges (Section 39)
• Act on Television and Radio Operations (Section 35)
• Electricity Market Act (Section 25 b)
• Credit Institutions Act (Section 128)
• Act on Insurance Mediation (Section 33)
• Insurance Companies Act (Chapter 14a, Section 10)
• Act on Provision of Information Society Services (the "e-commerce law", Section 26)
• Act on Water Services (Section 22)
• Communications Market Act (Section 83)
• Housing Transactions Act

Decrees and regulations pursuant to provisions of Chapter 2 of the Consumer Protection Act

The injunction discussed in Chapter 2, Section 7 of the Consumer Protection Act also concerns marketing not in compliance with regulations pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 2 of the Act. The Consumer Ombudsman's supervisory authority over marketing thus extends to these as well.

• Decree on exceptions in the application of certain provisions of Chapter 7 of the Consumer Protection Act
• Ministry of Trade and Industry Decision on the application of certain provisions of Chapter 7 of the Consumer Protection Act
• Decree on declaring the price of a consumer good in marketing
• Decree on declaring fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions of automobiles
• Ministry of Trade and Industry decree on model document for the sale of a home

Joint action obligations

The Consumer Ombudsman's jurisdiction is parallel to or overlaps with that of some special supervisory authorities. Special obligations to work collaboratively in this regard have also been written into the substantive legislation.

• Section 84 of the Credit Institutions Act provides for appropriate cooperation between the Consumer Ombudsman and the Finnish Financial Supervision Authority. The Finnish Financial Supervision Authority must also request a statement from the Consumer Ombudsman upon finding that a credit institution's contractual terms violate the Consumer Protection Act.

• Chapter 7, Section 1 of the Securities Markets Act requires the Finnish Financial Supervision Authority to report to the Consumer Ombudsman if it finds that securities have been marketed in a manner presumably in violation of the Consumer Protection Act.
    
• The collaborative supervision obligation is set down in Section 33 of the Act on Insurance Mediation and Chapter 14a, Section 10 of the Insurance Companies Act for the Consumer Ombudsman and the Insurance Supervisory Authority, and in 
    
• Section 26 of the e-commerce law for the Consumer Ombudsman and the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority.
     
• Under Section 120 of the Communications Market Act, the Ministry of Transport and Communications as well as the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority have the responsibility to work together with competition authorities and consumer authorities as needed when carrying out their responsibilities under the Act.

Activities under the EC Regulation on Consumer Protection Cooperation

In 2004, the EC Regulation on Consumer Protection Cooperation (2006/2004) went into effect. The supervisory authorities of each country enter reports on legal violations into a shared databank. Authorities can ask members of the network for help with investigations or taking action. The goal is to prevent illegal activities discovered in one country from occurring in others, thus enhancing consumer confidence and a fair competitive environment for law-abiding businesses. The Finnish Consumer Agency enters reports into the databank on behalf of other Finnish authorities and otherwise serves as the contact agency for Finland. The EC Regulation concerns the following directives: