Keywords
Summary

Keywords

++++

Free movement of goods ° Quantitative restrictions ° Measures having equivalent effect ° Rule of case-law imposing on the parallel importer of a branded product the obligation to inform purchasers of the practice of certain authorized dealers regarding services under guarantee ° Whether permissible

(EEC Treaty, Art. 3)

Summary

Article 30 of the Treaty does not preclude a rule established in the courts of a Member State from imposing an obligation to provide information prior to contract, as a result of which a parallel importer is under an obligation to inform purchasers of a given branded product that certain authorized dealers in that brand refuse to perform services under the guarantee for products which have been the subject of parallel imports.

On the one hand, such an obligation applies without distinction to all contractual relations and is not intended to regulate trade, and on the other hand an obstacle to the free movement of goods cannot result from that obligation but from the practice of authorized dealers, so that any restrictive effects which it might have are too indirect and uncertain to warrant the conclusion that it is liable to hinder trade between Member States.