Austria has been censured by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for banning the remote sale and delivery by post of food supplements.
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It has agreed with the European Commission that Austria’s industrial and commercial code, the Gewerbeordnung, breaks the country’s European Union (EU) treaty commitments on the free trade of goods.
The court ordered Austria to abolish this restriction, saying that it was “in breach of its obligations” under EU law, telling it to pay the case costs. Brussels successfully argued that by banning postal deliveries, Austria was discriminating against suppliers from other EU member states, forcing consumers to buy food supplements locally.
