Consumer information; request for information

The Consumer Information Act (VIG) gives citizens a right to information on important consumer issues.

Upon request to , consumers have free access to information held by authorities with a duty to provide information on products within the meaning of the German Food and Feed Code (products) and consumer products subject to Section 2 (25) of the German Product Safety Act (consumer products) in order to make the market more transparent and thereby improve consumer protection against products and consumer products that are harmful to health or otherwise unsafe and against deception when dealing with products and consumer products. This includes, for example, information that the authorities have on food or animal feed, cosmetics, wine and so-called consumer goods (e.g. objects that come into contact with food, skin or mucous membranes).

The desired information can include, for example Violations of legal regulations, questions of labeling, origin, quality, use or on the ingredients of a food as well as monitoring measures or other official activities or measures to protect consumers.

As food and consumer goods inspections (e.g. supermarkets, bakeries, butchers, restaurants, manufacturers) are usually carried out by the district administrative authorities (i.e. district administrative offices or independent cities), it makes sense to submit requests for information about inspections and their results in this area to them.

The trade supervisory authorities located at the governments are responsible for monitoring product safety. Applications for information on inspections and their results in this area can be submitted to the Trade Supervisory Office of the Government of Middle Franconia (Nuremberg Trade Supervisory Office) for Northern Bavaria (Lower, Middle, Upper Franconia and the Upper Palatinate) and to the Trade Supervisory Office of the Government of Upper Bavaria (Munich Trade Supervisory Office) for Southern Bavaria (Upper, Lower Bavaria and Swabia).

However, the other authorities in Bavaria will of course also provide information about the information they hold. If the authority obliged to provide information has no knowledge of the information requested in the application, it will forward the application ex officio to the authority that has the information, insofar as this is known and possible, and inform the applicant of the forwarding.

Questions about legal violations are free of charge up to an administrative cost of 1,000 euros, in other cases up to 250 euros.

Before costs are incurred, the competent authority must inform the applicant and estimate the costs incurred. In this case, the applicant can decide whether they still want the information or whether they want to restrict or withdraw their application free of charge.

Notes:

• The provision of information may affect the rights of third parties, for example in the case of information on infringements by a food business operator. In these cases, a formal procedure is required in which the food business operators are given the opportunity to comment on the intended provision of information and to raise any objections. Information can only be provided after the procedure has been completed.
• In cases where the rights of third parties are affected, the authority is obliged to provide the name and address of the applicant at the request of the third party.