Advertisting Food in Europe

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Aude Mahy (ed.) Aude Mahy is a Belgian attorney at law with Loyens & Loeff, specialised in (international) Commercial Law and European and Belgian Food Law. Aude presides the Loyens & Loeff Food & Beverages Team.

€ 159,–

www.lexxion.eu

ISBN 978-3-869 65-249-8

9 783869 652498

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berlin brussels

Aude Mahy (ed.) Advertising Food in Europe

A large number of food law matters are differently handled by the various national jurisdictions within and outside of the European Union. This edited volume presents the various national approaches on how foodstuffs ought to be successfully marketed across the European Economic Area. Following a same framework, experienced food lawyers provide practical solutions and handy insight on the thorniest and crucial national aspects of food advertising within their country. The book is therefore conceived as a practical manual, each chapter covering one specific country.

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Advertising Food in Europe A Comparative Law Analysis

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the German National Library, detailed bibliographical data can be found on the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. The publisher expressly disclaims all responsibility and liability with regard to the topicality, correctness, completeness or quality of the information provided.

ISBN: Print 978-3-86965-249-8 E-Book 978-3-86965-250-4 © 2014 Lexxion Publisher · Berlin www.lexxion.eu Cover: Tozman Satz & Grafik, Berlin Typeset: Michael Bellenbaum

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PREFACE & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Preface & Acknowledgments This volume finds its origin in a comparative law seminar, devoted to the regulation of food advertising in the EU and neighbouring countries, which was held in December 2013 in Brussels. It builds upon some of the authors’ / speakers’ preparatory work and the various discussions that took place on this occasion. I would like to thank my colleagues at Loyens & Loeff for bearing with me throughout the whole editorial process of this edited collection, especially Yves Van Couter, Filip Pauwels and Inge Marcellis as well as every contributor for accepting to share his expertise with us. Brussels, June 2014

Aude Mahy

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CONTENTS

Contents PART I  INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 Aude Mahy

Setting the Scene����������������������������������������������������������������  9

Chapter 2 Structure of the Comparative Analysis: Shedding some Light on the Questions Raised ���������� 31 Aude Mahy PART II  NATIONAL CHAPTERS Chapter 3 Austria���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 47 Andreas Natterer and Eva-Maria Kostenzer Chapter 4 Belgium�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 67 Aude Mahy and Filip Pauwels Chapter 5 Denmark������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 119 Martin Draebye Gantzhorn and Christian Marquard Svane Chapter 6 France����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 139 Joseph Vogel and Christophe Nussbaumer Chapter 7 Germany������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 169 Andreas Meisterernst and Leonie Evans Chapter 8 Italy��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 189 Giorgio Rusconi Chapter 9 Luxembourg������������������������������������������������������������������������� 213 Véronique Hoffeld and Claudia Lenertz Chapter 10 The Netherlands ����������������������������������������������������������������� 231 Remco Bäcker, Kim Lucassen, Joanne Zaaijer and Victor van Ahee Chapter 11 Norway��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 259 Marie Vaale-Hallberg and Nina Charlotte Lindbach 5

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CONTENTS

Chapter 12 Poland����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 283 Sylwia Paszek Chapter 13 Portugal ������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 301 Ana Menéres and Margarida Brito da Cruz Chapter 14 Slovak Republic������������������������������������������������������������������� 313 David Stros Chapter 15 Spain������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 331 Núria Porxas and Javier Carreras Chapter 16 Sweden ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 353 Magnus Friberg and Lovisa Nelson Chapter 17 Switzerland��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 379 Karola Krell Chapter 18 United Kingdom����������������������������������������������������������������� 397 Hilary Ross, Dominic Watkins and Anne Marie Taylor Contributors������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 415

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PART I

INTRODUCTION

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Setting the Scene

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1 Setting the Scene Aude Mahy

I. Introduction While food law is mainly regulated at the European level and despite the fact that free movement of goods is one of the most essential pillars of the European Union, technical obstacles to the free movement of food products are still widespread. They occur when national authorities lay down specific and local requirements to be met by a given product, regardless of the fact that this product comes from another Member State where it is lawfully produced or marketed. Such national requirements may, amongst other things, relate to the designation, form, size, weight, composition, presentation, labelling or packaging of a product. Such obstacles can considerably hamper food business operators in their commercial strategy. It is therefore of primary importance to anticipate such difficulties by examining how the free movement of goods is actually implemented by the Member States and to what extent they are allowed to adopt specific national measures. This introductory chapter will set the framework of the relevant rules applicable at the European level with respect to food advertising in order to facilitate the understanding of the national chapters. We will start with an explanation on how the European system allows national authorities to have specific requirements, first from a general point of view (see title I: Free movement of goods: Cross-links between EU and national laws) and secondly, when applied to the issue of labelling and advertising foodstuffs (see title II: Free movement of food: advertising & labelling issues). A third point will briefly discuss the various European legislations prohibiting misleading (food) advertising and the methodology used to assess whether a consumer could be misled (see title III: Misleading advertising: A European definition – a national perception). We shall bring 9

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CHAPTER 1

Setting the Scene

this introductory chapter to a close with an overview of Member States’ obligations and powers with respect to the enforcement of Food Law (see title IV: Enforcement of Food Law).

II. The Free Movement of Goods: Cross-Links between the EU and National Laws 1. Introduction To measure how free movement of goods should be implemented by Member States, one must first determine whether the matter in question is already harmonised at the European level. This allows us in turn to assess the extent to which national authorities may adopt or retain national requirements.

2. Harmonised matters Harmonised matters are those for which standard requirements are set at the European level. Such standards can for instance relate to the technical specifications of a given product or its conditions of sale. The harmonisation may be partial (e.g. food advertising) or comprehensive (e.g. European Directive relating to cocoa chocolate products1). It may be embedded in a Regulation, which is directly applicable in the Member States, or in a Directive, which lays down common (standard, minimum or maximum) requirements. The latter will require national implementations in order to be enforceable vis-à-vis operators. The principle applicable to harmonised rules is quite straightforward: when a matter is harmonised, the nature or provisions of the harmonising legisla-

1 Directive 2000/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 June 2000 relating to cocoa and chocolate products intended for human consumption

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Setting the Scene

CHAPTER 1

tion will determine whether and in which manner Member States may adopt national rules that deviate from and/or complement European requirements. Any (possible) obstacle to trade concerning a matter or product covered by harmonising legislation is thus to be analysed in the light of the provisions of such legislation. In this regard, it is worth noting that a national measure that does not comply with the limits set by the European act will be held illegal and inapplicable, regardless of the fact that the relevant products are imported or domestic.

3. Non-harmonised matters a. Principle of free movement of goods In the absence of harmonisation, national measures are to be analysed in the light of the principle of free movement of goods as laid down by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’).2 This principle states that Member States may not adopt any quantitative restriction on the import of goods coming from another Member State or any measure having equivalent effect. The terms ‘measures of equivalent effect’ have been defined by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) as covering ‘all trading rules enacted by Member States which are capable of hindering, directly or indirectly, actually or potentially, intra-Community trade’.3 For example, a measure will be regarded as an obstacle to trade if it is of such a nature as to render the marketing of the relevant products more difficult or more expensive. This could be the case if the marketing is excluded from certain channels of distribution or requires additional costs relating to the necessity to package the products in question in special packs that comply with the requirements in force on the market of their destination.

2 TFEU, Art. 34 & 36 (ex. Art. 28 & 30 TEC). 3 For the first time in the ‘Dassonville’ case (Case 8/74 Dassonville, ECR, 1974, 837).

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A measure may be regarded as an obstacle to the free movement of goods even if the national measure does not make a distinction between domestic and imported products.4

b. Justifications for technical obstacles to trade According to the TFEU, however, a national measure representing a technical obstacle to trade may be admissible if it is duly justified on one of the following grounds: 1) the public morality, public policy or public security; 2) the protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants; 3) the protection of national treasures possessing artistic, historic or archaeological value; or 4) the protection of industrial and commercial property. This list of admissible grounds has been interpreted extensively by the CJEU, which has laid down the concept of ‘imperative requirements’. Under this definition of imperative requirements, the application of a national measure may be justified on one of the aforementioned grounds but also by other requirements regarded as mandatory such as consumer protection.5 In any case, when it is duly justified by an imperative requirement, the obstacle to trade must be proportionate to the aim to be achieved. This means that if a Member State has a choice between various measures to attain the same objective, it must choose the means which restricts free trade the least.6

4 Case 261/81 Rau v De Smedt, ECR 1982, 3961. 5 Case 120/78 Cassis de Dijon, ECR, 1979, 649; Case 261/81 Rau v De Smedt, ECR, 1982, 3961; Case 178/84 Commission v Germany, ECR, 1987, 1227, Case C-241/89 SARRP, ECR, 1990, I-04695, paragraph 31. 6 Case 261/81 Rau v De Smedt, ECR 1982, 3961, Case C-241/89 SARRP, ECR, 1990, I-04695, paragraph 31; Joined Cases C-34/95 to C36/95 De Agostini and TV-Shop [1997] ECR I-3843, paragraph 45; see also Case C-239/02 Douwe Eghberts, ECR, 2002, I-7037, paragraph 51.

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