European Communities (Requirements To Indicate Product Prices) Regulation 2002

Statutory Instrument No.639/2002

I, Mary Harney, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 1 , hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices) Regulations 2002.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of March 2003.

2. (1) In these Regulations-

“advertisement” means an advertisement promoting the sale of a product but does not include an advertisement promoting the sale of a product by means of a distance contract, catalogue, price list container or label;

“consumer” means a natural person who buys a product for purposes that do not fall within the sphere of his or her commercial or professional activity;

“Directive” means Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers;

“Director” means the Director of Consumer Affairs;

“distance contract” means a contract for the sale of a product entered into by a trader and a consumer by any means, or in any manner, not involving those persons being present together;

“itinerant trader” means a trader who, as a pedestrian, or from a train, aircraft, vehicle, ship, stall, barrow or other mobile sales unit, offers products to consumers other than by means of pre-printed material;

“net drained weight” means the weight of a solid food product contained in a liquid medium (within the meaning of paragraph 4 of Article 8 of Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs 2 );

“premises” includes any building, shop, store, dwelling, kiosk temporary construction, or an area in any of the foregoing in which trading is carried on pursuant to a franchise or concession;

“products sold in bulk” means products which are not pre-packaged and are measured in the presence of the consumer;

“selling price” means the final price in euro, including value-added tax and all other taxes, for a unit of a product, or a given quantity of a product;

“trader” means any natural or legal person who sells or offers for sale products which fall within the sphere of his or her commercial or professional activity;

“unit price” means the final price in euro, including value-added tax and all other taxes, for one kilogram, one litre, one metre one square metre or one cubic metre of a product or, in respect of a product mentioned in the first column of the Schedule, the final price in euro, including value-added tax and all other taxes, for the number of units specified in the second column of the Schedule opposite such mention.

(2) In these Regulations-

(a) a reference to a Regulation or the Schedule is a reference to a Regulation of, or the Schedule to, these Regulations, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended, and

(b) a reference to a paragraph or a subparagraph is a reference to the paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

(3) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Directive has, unless the contrary intention appears, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Directive.

3. These Regulations do not apply to-

(a) products supplied in the course of the provision of a service, and

(b) sales by auction or sales of works of art and antiques.

4. (1) Subject to paragraph (2), where a trader indicates that a product is or may be for sale to a consumer, he or she shall indicate the selling price of that product in accordance with these Regulations.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply in respect of-

(a) products sold in bulk, or

(b) an advertisement for a product.

(3) A person who contravenes this Regulation is guilty of an offence.

5. (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3) and (4), where a trader indicates that a product is or may be for sale to a consumer, he or she shall indicate the unit price of the product in accordance with these Regulations.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to a product -

(a) which is pre-packaged with a content equal to or less than 50 grams or 50 millilitres;

(b) the selling price of which is not related to the quantity of that product being offered for sale;

(c) the unit price of which is identical to its selling price;

(d) the selling price of which has been reduced from the usual price at which it is sold on account of its damaged condition or the danger of its deterioration;

(e) which comprises an assortment of different items sold in a single package;

(f) which is sold from an automatic dispenser or a vending machine from which different products are offered for sale,

or

(g) which is sold other than in bulk -

(i) in a premises in which the trader does not make use of equipment for printing shelf edge labels or equipment for point of sale scanning, or

(ii) by an itinerant trader.

(3) Any question as to whether the selling price of a product is related to the quantity of that product being offered for sale shall be determined by the Director.

(4) Paragraph (1) applies in relation to an advertisement for a product except where —

(a) the selling price of the product is not indicated in the advertisement, or

(b) the advertisement is:

(i) solely aural,

(ii) broadcast on television, or

(iii) shown in a cinema.

(5) A person who contravenes this Regulation is guilty of an offence.

6. (1) A trader shall ensure that the indication of the selling price and where appropriate, the unit price of a product offered by him or her to consumers or to prospective consumers is —

(a) unambiguous, easily identifiable...

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