National Competition Law Report – Q4 2006

PARALLEL TRADE

Judgment of the Swiss Supreme Court concerning the sale of imported "preventative dental medicinal" toothpaste Colgate Dentagard

On October 19, 2006, the Swiss Supreme Court issued a judgment in the Colgate Dentagard case. This judgment indicates a concern to favour the levelling of barriers to the free movement of goods from the EU into Switzerland, and a receptiveness to EU law "soft" influence in appropriate areas of Swiss law. This judgment may also significantly effect the way toothpaste and other oral hygiene consumer products are marketed in Switzerland.

The Swiss discount retailer Denner AG had been sourcing Colgate Dentagard toothpaste in Germany at a significantly lower price than that available to it in Switzerland, and reselling it on the Swiss market. On March 2, 2005 the Zurich Cantonal Laboratory ordered Denner to discontinue selling that toothpaste as of June 30, 2005. It was of the view that the indication which the toothpaste tube bore,