[Ecommerce] Fresheners and Jurisdiction question

[Manon Ress]

This page on air fresheners
http://www.beuc.org/Content/Default.asp?PageID=3D529
will probably disappear today.

The Dutch Court decided against Consumentenbond and BEUC in the legal
action brought by Sara Lee International.

Within about 36 hours, they must remove from their website anything that
might give the impression that air fresheners are not safe under normal
conditions of use. They must also send a corrective statement, in terms
drafted by the court, to the Dutch media.

This is your last chance to read it (or download it?) from BEUC
website.  It would be interesting to know if that would happened in the
US too (1st Amendment protection).  Of course the jurisdiction of the
court applies only to the Netherlands; in other countries BEUC members
will continue to say what they have been saying about air fresheners.

This is the text of a press statement issued earlier today.

BEUC PRESS RELEASE 8TH MARCH 2005

AIR FRESHENERS AND BEUC

In a Decision announced today the Rechtbank Court in The Hague ruled
that BEUC should cease to give the impression that air fresheners are
unsafe in normal use. In the view of the Court, the report on which BEUC
based itself does not justify the conclusion that air fresheners diffuse
substances, including benzene and formaldehyde, in concentrations that
are dangerous for health. (=93=85 de resultaten in het rapport waarop BEUC
zich heeft gebaseerd, niet de conclusie rechtvaardigen dat
luchtverfrissers stoffen, waaronder benzeen en formaldehyde, verspreiden
in concentraties die gevaarlijk zijn voor de gezondheid=85.=94).

We are studying the Court Decision and consulting our lawyers with a
view to lodging an appeal against this decision.

We are concerned in particular that the Decision does not, in our
opinion, seem to give due weight to the following factors:

=95     The consequences for freedom of speech for consumer organizations,
both in general terms and in the political debate regarding the
regulation of chemical substances (REACH).
=95     The cumulative effect of exposure to different chemical substances
from air fresheners and other sources.
=95     The effect of volatile organic compounds produced from the use of
air fresheners.
=95     The consequences for vulnerable populations (young children,
pregnant women) of the regular use of air fresheners.
END

For more info email Jim Murray
jim.murray@beuc.org


--
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

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