Skopje, 29 January 2025 (MIA) — Levica has submitted draft amendments to the Consumer Protection Law that would eliminate the provision requiring bilingual labels on products, Levica MP Amar Mecinovikj told a press conference Wednesday.

According to Mecinovikj, the aim of the bill is to protect the Macedonian language as the only official language in the entire country; to cut producers' and retailers' costs; and to ease administrative procedures for business companies in times of economic crisis.

"Instead of mandatory bilingual product labels, retailers will be required to provide product information only in the Macedonian language and its Cyrillic script, with the possibility of using other languages ​​at their discretion, as it should be," the Levica MP said about the proposed changes.

"This law also aims to correct the injustice done to Macedonian producers and consumers, who have been suffering for years from the administrative and financial burdens imposed by the regime parties' clientelistic policies," he said.

Mecinovikj said former Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi of DUI had pushed to fast-track the provision for bilingual product labels on the basis of the Law on the Use of Languages, which the Constitutional Court will be reviewing the constitutionality of at a session in March. mr/