Extraterritoriality of non-harmonised national UTP laws is an existential threat to the single market for food products

As the AGRI committee of the European Parliament will vote on 15 July on the Commission proposal on cross-border enforcement of the unfair trading practices (UTP) Directive, Independent Retail Europe and Euro Coop warn that amendments tabled in AGRI which open the door to the extra-territorial application of non-harmonised national UTP laws represent an existential risk for the single market for food products, with far reaching negative consequences for all actors in the supply chain, including farmers and consumers.

They therefore urge the AGRI Committee to reject these amendments and follow the opinion of the IMCO Committee, which clarifies that the Regulation applies to stricter national laws only if they are prohibited in both, the Member State of the requested enforcement authority and the Member State of the applicant enforcement authority.