Market Authority - Municipal Department 59

1090 Vienna, Spittelauer Lände 45
Phone: +43 1 4000-59210
Fax: +43 1 4000-99-59210
E-Mail: post@ma59.wien.gv.at
Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 7.30 am to 3.30 pm

Markets

Consumer Protection

Municipal Department 59 - Market Authority (MA 59) does not only ensure the respect of the Food and Consumer Protection Law (Lebensmittelsicherheits- und Verbraucherschutzgesetz - LMSVG) but also the respect of other consumer protection laws. The most important ones are:

  • Price Marking Law: The prices for goods and services (for example commission fees of a theatre ticket agency) have to be clearly visible for consumers.
  • Measurement and Gauge Law: Scales and other measurement devices have to be regularly gauged. Also, consumers need to see the measurement device while the product is being weighed.
  • Trade Register Act: In order to ensure the protection of the consumers, all businesses are inspected to make sure they respect the trade regulations (protection of neighbours). Business licenses are checked to fight illegal businesses. Inspections are often held after betrayed or damaged consumers have filed a report.
  • Law on Categories of Quality: Fruits and vegetables have to be labelled correctly according to the law. Yet the goods, species, origin and trading class also have to correspond to the quality labelling.
  • Product Safety Law: Goods of everyday use are checked for potential health hazards. In the past there have been objections to certain types of braking devices of mountain bikes; different aromatic fruits made of wood or plastic that small children might accidentally swallow (danger of asphyxiation) have been confiscated. Ladders, different joke articles, laser pointers, hammocks or baby walkers are among the other products that are regularly checked.

Food Inspection Authority

The staff of the Municipal Department 59 - Market Authority (MA 59) inspect the businesses and take samples for bacteriological and chemical tests. Inspected businesses range from:

  • strawberry stands to supermarkets and whole sale traders,
  • from hot dog stands to restaurants and hospital kitchens,
  • from smallest manufacturers to industrial companies.

During unannounced inspections the following standards are monitored in order to protect consumers and serious entrepreneurs:

  • shape and conditions of the business building, focussing on hygiene, including pest monitoring
  • delivery, storage and processing of food
  • visual inspection of food, including correct labelling
  • hygiene and competence of staff
  • self-control measures (including HACCP)

Particular attention is paid to organic food and drinking water in businesses. But the inspectors also check cosmetics and toys.

To ensure the quality of the controls, there are regular trainings for the inspectors. As the inspections follow EU wide rules, specialised EU agencies regularly monitor inspection standards. The Food Inspection Authority of the Vienna Market Authority is a member of the European Working Community for Food Inspection and Consumer Protection (EWFC).

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City of Vienna | Market Authority
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