The European Parliament has recommended several measures to tackle 'dual-quality', identically-branded consumer products in the EU.
These include cross-border cooperation, comparative tests, and better enforcement. The results will be disclosed in a publicly-available database and analysed by the end of 2018.
Clear Definition Of Dual Quality
MEPs welcomed the EU Commission’s April 2018 New Deal for Consumers proposal, which amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, but pointed out that a clear definition is needed of what can be considered dual quality.
They also warned that consumer preferences should not be used as an excuse for lower quality on different markets. If a company sells a product EU-wide with different compositions in different countries, it must not label and brand it in a seemingly identical way, as this may mislead consumers.
The MEPs invited manufacturers to consider including a logo on the packaging that would show that the content and quality of the same brand is the same across EU countries.
Same Brand, Different Quality
According to Czech MEP Olga Sehnalová, consumers in different countries regularly complain that they do not get the same quality when buying branded products.
She stressed that dual-quality products undermine citizens' confidence in the fair functioning of the EU internal market, and should be considered an unfair commercial practice.
A vote on the new legislative proposal amending the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive is expected in November of this year.
Various tests and surveys conducted in Central and Eastern Europe have proved that food and non-food products advertised and sold under the same brand, in seemingly identical packaging, differ in composition and ingredients.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
