After receiving complaints from consumers in several EU countries that the quality of certain food products was lower in their country of origin than in other EU countries, in 2017, the European Commission began investigating the issue of dual quality of goods and concluded that the issue deserved legislative attention.
Starting from the consideration that for food products, “significant differences” between the examined product and the reference product could potentially influence the consumer's purchasing choices and that the classification of “significant” and “non-significant” differences cannot be determined a priori, the European Commission has introduced the so-called Omnibus Directive, which modifies the list of unfair commercial practices of Directive 2005/29/EC.
An interesting article published on Chambers written by Giorgio Rusconi And THEaura carrara analyses the rules of the Omnibus Directive and the implications for the food and non-food sectors, and outlines the criteria under which products can legitimately differ between EU Member States.
