In response to our inquiry into whether she had documents verifying the expiration dates and safety of products, the salesclerk at the Aygestan Store on Charents Street in Yerevan replied that this was a state secret. According to Article 9, Clause 1 of the Law on the Protection of Consumers' Rights, a salesclerk is obliged to provide the consumer with necessary and accurate information about the mode of operation of the store and the staple commodities, if the consumer requests such information.

All the stores we visited in the center of Yerevan refused to provide us with such information. The salesclerk at the Urartu Store on Abovian Street angrily responded that they had a merchandise expert who was in charge of product safety, expiration dates and other similar issues, but he was not available at the moment. The salesclerk at a nameless store on Terian Street said: "I don't know, it's none of my business". As the salesclerk at the Patuhan Store on Grigor Lusavorich Street sees it, they themselves are the guarantors of the safety of their products.

In these stores, many of the products for sale lacked either the date of production or the date of expiration. Corn Straws and Classic Coffee produced by the Daroinc Company were missing this information. "By using expired, poor-quality products we, first of all, damage our health and "gain" various diseases, in particular, cancer, fungus, and lowered immunity," says Abgar Yeghoyan, Chairman of the Union of Consumer Protection.

In accordance with Government Decision # 36, Article 6 of 1998, a sign must be placed on the façade of a store in a location visible to the customer with the trademark, legal address and working hours of the store. Four stores out of those we have visited had no name. As for the type of store, working hours and legal address, none of the ten stores visited had signs containing this information.

In none of the stores did the customers know about their rights. According to Abgar Yeghoyan, "If we compare the situation with previous years the difference is obvious. The main change is not in the market but in the psychology of people. They are now interested in the quality, safety and expiration date of the products they consume. I think this is no small achievement". Armen Poghosian, chairman of the Consumers' Union says, " If we, the consumers, demand that vendors in the stores respect our rights, the vendor, the producer will be forced to do so".

Gohar Manukyan, Manushak Iritsyan