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Dual quality food products: guidelines to better tackle unfair practices

Sep 27, 2017 | News

(26 September 2017) – Today the Commission issued a set of guidelines that will help national authorities to determine whether a company is breaking EU laws when selling products of dual quality in different countries.

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The guidance lists and explains the relevant requirements from EU food laws and EU consumer laws to which authorities need to refer when analysing a potential dual quality product issue: the Food Information Regulation and the Unfair Commercial Practices directive.

Based on this legislation, the guidance establishes a step-by-step approach for the national consumer and food authorities to identify whether the producers are in breach of these laws. In case there is a cross-border aspect to a breach, the consumer authorities can address it through the Consumer Protection Cooperation network at the European level.

In addition to these guidelines, the Commission is working on a methodology to improve food product comparative tests so that Member States can discuss this issue on a sound and shared scientific basis that is the same for all. The Commission has made €1 million available to its Joint Research Centre (JRC) to develop this methodology.

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