Double quality outlawed
The European Commission (EC) will on Wednesday propose that selling foodstuffs with different ingredients under the same brand in various EU countries be made illegal, say sources of ČTK newswire. Companies would face fines of up to 4% of their sales in a given country for selling double quality products. This is a diplomatic coup for Slovakia and other V4 countries that have been calling for action for several years. Previously, the EC allowed companies to sell double quality products as long as they clearly marked the ingredients. It will present its methodology for discovering the ingredients by the end of April.
Many tests have shown that some products have lower quality in Slovakia than in Austria, despite having the same branding. Austrian products tend to cost more, though. The new EU regulation will increase prices in Slovakia and reduce local sales of multinationals, as Slovaks will inevitably opt for the cheaper products offered by competitors.
