Davit Songulashvili: Consumer Protection Is Our Shared Responsibility

The Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, Davit Songulashvili, participated in the opening event of the 4th International Consumer Protection Week.

In his remarks, the Minister spoke about ongoing reforms within the Ministry aimed at strengthening consumer rights protection.

“The policy and action plan of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, as well as its affiliated agencies, are focused on creating a system that ensures a high level of public satisfaction. Food safety, veterinary services, and plant protection are all united by one main goal — ensuring that consumers have access to safe food. The reality today is that consumers are better protected than ever. The business sector is well informed about the requirements established by the state, which are based on international standards. The state control system is functioning effectively. Our goal is to establish standards at every stage of production that ensure the reliability and competitiveness of products made in Georgia. We have the ambition to ensure that the consumer market is supplied only with safe food,” said Davit Songulashvili.

The Minister also highlighted key areas of focus, including reducing plastic use, implementing an action plan for the sustainable use of pesticides, strengthening air protection regulations, and simplifying service procedures within the Ministry’s system.

“As part of the ongoing reform, service procedures within the Ministry have been simplified. We are working on even more flexible mechanisms, which will be introduced in the near future. Protecting consumer rights is our shared responsibility. I would like to emphasize that our main goal is to achieve a high level of public trust and satisfaction,” he added.

The opening event of the week was attended by up to 200 participants, including representatives of the executive and legislative branches, the public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations, international partners, and industry experts.

The 4th International Consumer Protection Week is organized by the Competition and Consumer Protection Agency, the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission, the Georgian National Communications Commission, the National Bank of Georgia, the Insurance State Supervision Service of Georgia, and the National Food Agency.