Laws and regulations

In a battle against falsified medicines, the European Union has introduced a common logo for legally operating online pharmacies and retailers. This already happened one year ago, but starting 1 July, implementation of the logo on an online pharmacy's website is mandatory.

The European Commission has launched a tool that should help online retailers, especially small and medium enterprises, with selling online and going cross-border. The tool provides guidance on what the legal rules are and what steps need to be taken to be compliant with certain laws and regulations.

The European Commission has raided several companies which sell consumer electronics online on suspicion of illegal behavior. Also websites selling video games online were part of an investigation, because of possible geo-blocking of sales. The European Union is apparently working hard to help remove barriers to cross-border trade in the 28 European countries.

Starting 1 January 2015, there are new VAT regulations, aimed at businesses that sell electronic products and services to private individuals within the European Union. From the first day of 2015, the place of taxation will be where the customer lives, rather than where the supplier of the service is established. Here's what you should know about these incoming changes.

The High Court in the United Kingdom has decided that Internet service products must take action to restrict access to websites that are selling physical counterfeits, such as clothing and jewelry, when a brand owner requests this. This is the result of Swiss luxury company Richemont going to court some months ago.

The Federal Council of Switzerland wanted to introduce a right of return for the local ecommerce industry, just like has happened in the majority of Europe, but the National Council was against it. Even if this meant Swiss consumers would be disadvantaged against EU citizens. But for purchases over the phone, customers still have some important rights.

An online store that claimed to ‘deliver anywhere’ in its TV ad, lost a battle started by a costumer living on the Scottish Shetland Islands who complained the ad is misleading because the company refused to deliver to the Scottish Island.

No, Amazon didn’t make a typographical error at its site. The American retailer is really charging its French customers for shipping at the rate of one euro cent. And it has everything to do with the ongoing feud between Amazon and the French government.

Online merchants in France won't be able anymore to offer free shipments of discounted books. That's the result of new legislation that was passed last week by the French Senate. The law is designed to protect local bookstores and is unofficially called the anti-Amazon law, as the retail giant gave book discounts along with free shipments, something local bookstores could not appreciate at all.

Richemont takes high court action to stop websites in the United Kingdom from selling counterfeit products. This landmark case could change the content and future of the internet, some broadband providers fear. But the Swiss luxury company, behind e.g. Cartier jewellery and Montblanc Watches, won’t back down and is hoping for a positive court decision.

Nearly two in three online stores that are based in Belgium were in violation, one way or another. Although the situation has improved when compared to 2011, it's still a pretty significant figure. The results are from the annual report of the FPS Economy, a federal public service of Belgium.