Our Visit to Poland the Home of Chopin, Copernicus, and Curie
A blog by the CAK team that visited Poland in September, 2024
The journey to Poland commenced with an email from the Human Resource Department in May which read in part, “You have been nominated to participate in a Consumer Protection training in Poland in September 2024. Kindly urgently share a copy of your passport bio-data page.” Further details came fast and furious, prompting us to visit the internet to gather information on Poland. We quickly discovered that Poland has a rich history, and is known for not only the famous 19th Century Composer and Pianist Frédéric Chopin but also for scientists, Nicolaus Copernicus and Marie Curie. And yes, for the football lovers, the renowned FC Barcelona Striker, Robert Lewandowski.
We thought that we had all our ducks in a row when we finally went to the Embassy to apply for our visa. Lo and behold, we had missed out on providing bank statements along with the other documents. You should have seen us all frantically trying to access our statements online, thanks to mobile banking advancements. Within minutes we turned the situation around, submitted our bank statements, and were asked to pick up our passports on 3rd September 2024. We arrived and settled in Poland on Sunday, 8th September, and looked forward to a restful first night in Poland.
Monday 9th September was the first day of our study visit. Our colleague from UOKiK’s Warsaw office picked us up from the hotel and guided us through an underground tunnel to their offices, which was only a few meters from our hotel. Mr. Daniel Mankowski, the Vice President of UOKiK warmly welcomed us, setting the stage for what would be an exciting two weeks in Poland. On our part, we expressed gratitude for this opportunity to visit and exchange experiences from Africa and Europe.
In the first two days, we got an understanding of the institutional design of UOKiK, the market surveillance system, and the work of the Trade Inspectorate, a specialized inspection agency protecting consumer interests and rights and the economic interests of the state. Further, we were enlightened on the administrative proceedings followed in the application of market surveillance measures such as the withdrawal of products from the market, the Safety Gate RAPEX system, and the Information and Communication System on Market Surveillance (ICSMS) used by Market Surveillance Authorities across the EU to exchange information about products and serves as a database of the non-food products in circulation in EU countries.
We also visited one of three UOKiK laboratories in Łódź, where the testing of non-food products such as toys, textiles, jewelry, plastic products, detergents, and other consumer goods is done. Łódź is 3 hours away from Warszawa and the bus ride allowed us to admire the beautiful green scenery along the way. The other laboratories are in the cities of Bydgoszcz and Lublin. The results from the labs are published on the RAPEX safety gate system where consumers within Poland and the EU region can access the information on a timely basis. At the end of the visit to the laboratory, the team proceeded to Gdańsk, where we would spend the night before visiting the Customs Branch in Gdynia the following day.
Cooperation between Customs and Market Surveillance Authorities at the Baltic Container Terminal in the port of Gdynia made up our first session of the day. The three agencies, UOKiK, the Trade Inspection Authority, and the National Revenue Administration (KAS) conduct joint inspections to ensure that non-compliant goods are kept off the Poland market and EU market in general thus ensuring consumer health and safety of the goods. We participated in an inspection exercise for electronic products, that were shipped into Poland.
The final presentation in Gdańsk was on consumer rights in e-commerce, and specifically, on the drop-shipping model which the team quickly noted as an area that the Authority should prioritize. Indeed, one of the participants authored a journal article on this upon resumption to office, available here - https://unlawjournal.blogspot.com/2024/10/drop-shipping-what-should-be-done-to.html.
We were not about to miss out on the beauty of Gdańsk, albeit the biting breeze. This is easily one of the most beautiful cities in Poland. Our guide was well-versed in Polish history and took us through Brama Złota (the Golden Gate) to Fontanna Neptuna (Neptune’s Fountain) and St. Mary’s Church which is one of the largest brick churches in the world. We also visited the Długi Targ (Long Market Square) and walked along the Royal Route which was used by Polish monarchs in the 15th and 16th centuries whenever they visited the city. Our Saturday in Gdańsk was a memorable experience that gave us a once-in-a-lifetime chance to fully appreciate Poland’s history, culture, and architecture.
The following morning, we proceeded to the station in Gdańsk for our scheduled train ride to the city of Poznań. Interestingly, we arrived at the train station early enough and had to wait for over half an hour for the train to arrive. This is the day we discovered hidden talents. The platform we were waiting at was far away from where we were to board, and with less than five minutes to board, you could have thought that the Olympics were just beginning. Didn’t we sprint! We should probably consider racing as our side hustle!
The train ride to Poznań was quite scenic, as we got to admire the Polish countryside, with breathtaking landscapes punctuated by large plantations, plenty of trees, and beautifully organized villas. On arrival in Poznań, described as an old city in Poland, we checked in at the Hotel Puro. We went for an evening walk down the Stare Rynek (Old Market Square) to the Koziołki Poznańskie (Poznań Goats) the Urząd Miasta Poznania (Poznań City Hall) and the Plac Wolności (Freedom Square) before returning to our hotel for dinner and to prepare for the second week of our stay in Poland.
We started at the UOKiK Branch Office in Poznań, focusing on mystery shopper, a strategy used to gather evidence of infringement of the collective interest of consumers. Since it is an unannounced inspection, the consent of the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection has to be sought. Nonetheless, officers’ identities and warrants are revealed after the inspection while ensuring that the whole evidence is recorded for credibility. After a sumptuous lunch, we were transferred to the Poznan Railway Station in readiness for our journey back to the Capital city, Warszawa. We departed at exactly 1738hrs from Poznań Railway Station, and arrived in Warszawa at 2017hrs. Since our hotel was only a few meters from the station, we walked and were amazed at how pedestrian-friendly the city is. We would often run into a biker or two, young people in scooters, lovers walking their dogs. We noted, to our delight that there were no hawkers, no pushing and shoving and drivers respected the pedestrian crossings.
Many of us have fallen victim to dark-commercial patterns. Dark patterns influence consumers by exploiting cognitive and behavioral biases and heuristics, including default bias, the scarcity heuristic, social proof bias, or framing effects. The best example is when you want to purchase something online, and the platform continuously informs you that the deal is about to run out or a certain number of people are viewing the deal. All these are in a bid to put pressure on you to complete the purchase process. The key takeout from this session is the urgent need to develop techniques necessary for detecting and combating dark patterns for the benefit of the consumer.
Consumer protection goes hand-in-hand with education and information dissemination activities. We learned that UOKiK has an internal capacity to undertake both audio and video recordings for dissemination to the public. We undertook a practical where we recorded two videos, one audio, and one social media recording. The recordings are available here;
https://pliki.uokik2019.serweryiq.pl/index.php/s/iticx44F7t4JHcb; https://pliki.uokik2019.serweryiq.pl/index.php/s/jAtxJxFacpTBAkw; https://pliki.uokik2019.serweryiq.pl/index.php/s/c99E8QMNrGgC8yc; https://pliki.uokik2019.serweryiq.pl/index.php/s/rmJpX7cJjKMFts4
We had a relaxing city-guided evening walking tour around Warszawa. What stood out for us, was the Palace of Culture and Science, which was built as a gift to the Polish people from the 20th Century Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin. The palace, stands tall at 237 metres (778 ft), is the second tallest building in both Warsaw and Poland (after the Varso Tower), has 3288 rooms, and is the sixth tallest building in the European Union. We were informed about the never-ending debate by the Poles, on whether the building should be demolished as it reminds them of the trauma, under the Soviet regime, or it should be left to stand. The Jury is still out!
Our forefathers rightly said that “live with them to understand them more”. Indeed, this evening's walk was an opportunity for us to understand the history of Poland which we haven’t interacted with in history books.
On this final day, we understood the important role played by the office of the Consumer Ombudsman, established in 1988 in Poland because of a need to involve local government bodies in the development and implementation of consumer policy. The Consumer Ombudsman is a public prosecutor and acts as a bridge between governmental bodies and the consumer, free of charge. The Consumer Ombudsman also conducts consumer education in the form of lectures, articles, press releases, radio, television, or online blogs, aimed at groups of consumers, individual consumers, and entrepreneurs. We left this last session with great resolve and urgency to apply the lessons learned. As Nelson Mandela gently reminds us that, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” We are well on our way to changing the lives of the Kenyan consumer.
Time flies when you are having fun! It was unbelievable that our two-week stay, which seemed so long had come to an end. The Vice-President of UOKiK honored us by thanking the CAK team for their participation and cooperation throughout the visit period. A press release was issued detailing the visit, and is available here - https://uokik.gov.pl/en/uokiks-cooperation-with-the-competition-authority-of-kenya. As we left UOKiK, we reflected on the new experiences, networks, and lessons we had picked. Indeed, it was a fruitful visit and we looked forward to hosting our Polish Colleagues in November in Nairobi.
We spent the afternoon picking gifts for our loved ones, and packing as we looked forward to coming home the following day, on Friday 20th September. As we departed from the Warsaw Chopin Airport, we were definitely not the same as when we arrived a fortnight earlier. We left armed with plenty of lessons and we were so eager to share them with our colleagues back home which we are sure will improve how CAK promotes the welfare of Kenyan consumers
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