On November 12, Crowell & Moring chaired a plenary session during the 2018 ICPHSO International Symposium in Brussels, which was presented as part of the European Commission’s International Product Safety Week. The panel focused on how, as a result of their Big Data strategies, Business-to-Business (“B2B”) companies are
In its judgment of July 10, 20141, the EU Court of Justice reaffirmed the consequences of the complete harmonization of the laws of the EU Member States resulting from EU Directive 2005/29/EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market2 (the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive or UCPD).
The UCPD indeed fully harmonizes the rules relating to unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the EU. Accordingly, Member States may not maintain or adopt stricter rules than those laid down in the directive, even where such measures are designed to ensure a higher level of consumer protection.
In the case at hand, the national legislation of Belgium imposed the following restrictions upon retailers announcing price reductions: (i) any announcement of a price reduction must refer to the lowest price applied throughout the month prior to the announcement of the price reduction; (ii) the price may not be announced as a reduced price for more than a month; and (iii) announcements of price reductions may not last for less than a day.3
This national legislation had the effect of prohibiting the announcement of price reductions whenever the strict conditions contained in that legislation were not met, even where such practices would not, when examined individually, be considered misleading or unfair within the meaning of Directive 2005/29.4
However, the UCPD establishes, in its Annex I, an exhaustive list of 31 commercial practices which are regarded as unfair ‘in all circumstances.’ Consequently, only these commercial practices can be deemed to be unfair without proceeding to an assessment of their actual impact on consumers.
Continue Reading EU Court Affirms Harmonization Laws Governing Price Reductions Offered to Consumers
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations formally commenced on July 8, 2013. A little over a year later, the negotiators have held six rounds of negotiations. The most recent round of negotiations was held during the week of July 14-18 in Brussels, and the seventh round is now expected for D.C. in late September.
During July’s discussions, the two sides covered the full range of “market access” issues, including trade in goods, trade in services, investment, and government procurement. Negotiations included greater regulatory cooperation, widely considered to be the greatest value of the TTIP talks, with modest progress made in regards to several product sectors, including textiles and apparel (where they focused on labeling and safety issues), chemicals (where they discuss broad opportunities for cooperation), and automobiles (where talks advanced in areas like equivalence of technical regulations). Food safety also continued to be an important issue during negotiations, particularly with the leak of the EU’s proposed chapter on Sanitary and Phytosantiary Measures (SPS) prior to the start of the latest round.
Continue Reading Sixth Round of TTIP Negotiations Concludes in Brussels
The European Commission has been active this summer in its efforts to advance consumer safety in the European Union. Here are highlights of recent notable events:
In-app Purchases. The EU has moved to address consumer protection related to in-app purchases, particularly those made by children, which follows the announcement of similar enforcement actions in the U.S. This is the first time that the Commission and member states have joined forces to coordinate enforcement, as provided for in the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation (No. 2006/2004). The authorities have requested that steps be taken to prevent inadvertent in-app purchases, such as adequately informing consumers about how purchases are made and paid for, and have asked for concrete solutions from industry actors, including Google and Apple.
BPA in Toys. On June 25, 2014, the Commission announced a strict limit for Bisphenol A (BPA) in toys intended for children under 3 years old or toys intended to be placed in the mouth (0.1 mg/l migration limit). This action makes mandatory the BPA limit in the existing toy standard, EN 71.
On March 27, 2014, the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) ruled in the UPC Telekabel Wien-case that national courts may impose website blocking orders to internet access providers (IAPs) requiring them to prevent their subscribers from accessing a website containing copyright infringing material, without specifying the concrete blocking measures to be taken. The Court also
Politicians and public interest groups in the European Union are showing renewed interest in expanded country of origin labeling requirements in the wake of February’s horse meat scandal, where lasagna and other products sold in the EU purportedly made from beef were found instead to contain horse meat. Specifically, attention is focused on Regulation (EU)
The European Union is set to present a proposal for renewed EU legislation on data privacy at the end of January 2012. Vivian Reding, the EU commissioner on fundamental rights, has left no doubt about its content.
In a public speech, on November 7, 2011, the Commissioner has warned US corporations that if they want
Advertising the environmental benefits and attributes of consumer products has become an increasing trend in recent years as companies learn that consumers value “green” goods and services. To address compliance issues encountered in making these types of marketing claims, regulators are formulating guidance for businesses. While the U.S. is in the process of revising its environmental marketing Green Guides, the U.K. has published its new Green Claims Guidance. Both the U.S. and U.K. have addressed similar issues in their respective guidance documents.
The U.K.’s Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (“Defra”) published the revised Green Claims Guidance on February 2, 2011, updating previous guidance published in 2003. The Green Claims Guidance is directed at anyone who produces, sells, markets, or advertizes products or services in the U.K.
The new EU REACH Regulation establishes an integrated system for the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemical substances. It also provides “right to know” provisions allowing consumers to ask suppliers if their products contain Substances of Very High Concern (“SVHCs”) listed on an official Candidate List. Suppliers are obliged to reply within 45 days and free of charge to such requests with the name of the SVHC and information allowing safe use of the article.
Continue Reading EU Retailers Fail to Reply to “Right to Know” Requests from Consumers Under REACH