Consumer Products - food & drink

Recent Articles

•  

  06/08/2024

  Hungary

  EU Commission finetunes the Foreign Subsidies Regulation: insights into the latest Guidance

  On 26 July 2024, the European Commission released a staff working document that clarifies the Commission’s substantive test under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). This document serves as a valuable supplementary resource to FSR case-law and provides insight into how the Commission will conduct FSR assessments. Although this document is not binding, it may also prove highly beneficial for companies in evaluating and managing FSR risks.What are FSR procedures?The preamble to the FSR states that existing EU instruments do not address distortions caused by foreign aid, prompting the Commission...

  Read more
•  

  26/07/2024

  Italy

  Ruling no. 148/2024: tax exemption for dividends and capital gains realized by foreign funds - requirements

  The Italian Tax Authority (“ITA”), with the ruling no. 148/2024 published on July 11, 2024, confirms the application of the exemption regime - introduced by Article 1, paragraph 633, Law No. 178/2020 ("Budget Law 2021") - for Italian source dividends as well as capital gains deriving from the disposal of qualified participations realized by foreign investment funds, as better defined below.First of all, it should be recalled that the aforementioned Budget Law 2021 introduced the exemption regime for Italian-source income, consisting of dividends and capital gains (or capital losses)...

  Read more
•  

  24/07/2024

  UK, EU

  Overcooked, but with a slight bite – CJEU considers relevance of pre-Brexit UK rights in BASMATI EU trade mark opposition

  Are UK trade mark rights still relevant for EU trade mark oppositions that were started before – but are appealed after – the end of the Brexit transition period? And, more importantly, should UK rights holders still have the right to block EU trade mark applications that would no longer overlap with their earlier UK rights?The CJEU has sunk its teeth into these sticky issues in the case of Indo European Foods Ltd v EUIPO. The case concerned an opposition against an EU trade mark bearing the mark BASMATI, relying on “extended passing off” under UK common law. It demonstrates...

  Read more
•  

  21/06/2024

  Italy

  Italian Supreme Court Upholds OECD Transfer Pricing Rules

  The decisions of the Italian Supreme Court nos. 10577/2024 and 10499/2024 (concerning the same case for corporate income tax and regional income tax purposes) confirm important principles regarding transfer pricing transactions between associated companies.Firstly, the approach taken in the previous decision of the Italian Supreme Court no. 15668/2022 (available here) is confirmed with regard to the relevance of the arm’s length principle set forth by Article 9 of the OECD Model Tax Convention and included in Article 110, par. 7 of the Italian Income Tax Code.Moreover, the principle that,...

  Read more
•  

  05/06/2024

  Belgium

  The Belgian Competition Authority issues opinion on draft laws relating to pricing in the agricultural sector

  FR

  The Belgian Competition Authority issued on 8 May 2024 its opinion on three draft laws aimed at amending the Code of Economic Law regarding the pricing of agricultural products. The opinion concerns the compliance of the draft laws with competition law and highlights possible undesired side effects and its major concerns.First, the Authority assessed the new disposition aimed at imposing conditions and mandatory clauses on sales made by agricultural producers. It expresses its concern it could lead to uniformity of contractual terms. Under the new framework, where a producer mandates an organization...

  Read more
•  

  31/05/2024

  Scotland

  Blockchain technology in the Scottish food and drink sector: against the grain?

  IntroductionScotland’s food and drink sector is reported to be a c. £15 billion industry. However, while the importance of the sector to the Scottish (and wider UK) economy is unlikely to change, the technology available to producers in terms of how they run their businesses is constantly evolving. In this Law-Now, we outline various ways in which businesses operating in the food and drink industry may be able to make use of fintech to maximise the potential of this vibrant sector. Use casesGiven the current success of the Scottish food and drink sector, producers may question...

  Read more