New Marketing Practices Act From July 2008

On 1 July 2008 a new Marketing Practices Act entered into force. The new act implements Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices and implies some new aspects for Swedish companies to take into consideration. These include a new way of qualifying commercial practices and the fact that marketing statements can, in the final instance, be subject to assessment by the European Court of Justice. Swedish businesses should also note that the new act will mean that imposition of market disruption fines will be a more common sanction.

The aim of the directive on unfair commercial practices is to harmonize unfair competition law throughout the EU. For Sweden, EU harmonization means that the restrictive view on marketing which has, above all, characterised decisions from the Market Court, will likely be liberalized. The directive does not, however, regulate matters of taste or decency. These issues will continue to be dealt with by industry bodies such as the Marketing