THE'Article 23 of Law 16 December 2024, n. 193 (Annual Law for the Market and Competition 2023) introduced theArticle 15-bis within the Legislative Decree 206/2005 (Consumer Code), titled “Provisions on the re-portioning of pre-packaged products”.
This provision aims to ensure transparency in relation to the phenomenon of the so-called "shrinking”, which consists in the reduction by companies of the quantity of product sold while maintaining the original price and packaging unchanged, with a consequent increase in the price per unit of measurement.
The new Article 15-bis, applicable from April 1, 2025, provides, for producers who place consumer goods on the market, a information obligation regarding quantity reduction nominal of the products. This obligation, to be respected for the first six months from the placing on the market of the product, must be fulfilled by applying the following wording in the main field of vision of the sales package or on an adhesive label: “This package contains a product less than X (unit of measurement) compared to the previous quantity”.
In case of violation of this provision, the sanctions provided for by art. 17 of the Consumer Code are applicable, which refers to art. 22, paragraph 3 of Legislative Decree 114/1998, which provides for a administrative sanction from 516.46 to 3098.74 euros.
Article 15-bis should have been notified to the European Commission pursuant to Directive (EU) 2015/1535. The latter in fact defines a procedure requiring Member States to notify to the Commission all draft technical regulations concerning products and services of the information society, before they are adopted in national legislation. However, the final version of the provision has not been notified.
As a consequence of the failure to notify the Commission, in the event of a contested infringement of this new provision, private individuals could ask the national judge to disapply it.
Content by the Lawyer. Elisa Maria Babbini
