Same brand, different product formulation

5.10.2009

WRITTEN QUESTION E-4962/09
by Rareş-Lucian Niculescu (PPE)
to the Commission

In the European Union products are sometimes offered in different countries under the same brand name, but with a different product formulation. Products reportedly have the same brand name but are available in different concentrations/strengths. Situations have been reported where products of four different quality categories were sold in different destination countries under the same brand name.

As a result, what appears to be the same product is of a different quality depending on the country where it is purchased.

As a brand name is associated with a perceived quality, this practice could result in the public being misled. Businesses must avoid misleading consumers as to the advantages related to a brand of goods. If producers want to reduce the quality of the goods they offer, they should use a different brand name.

Given that the public believe that the quality of brand-name goods should be identical on all markets — based on the principle that one brand equals one quality — and that my constituents are concerned over this issue, what is the Commission’s opinion regarding ways of solving this problem?

OJ C 10 E, 14/01/2011