On 5 July 2017, the Belgian Official Journal published Royal Decree of 22 June 2017 "determining the infringements of the Code of Economic Law and its implementing provisions for which the officials as meant in Article XV.2 are authorised to approach companies by presenting themselves as customers or potential customers" (Koninklijk Besluit van 22 juni 2017 tot vaststelling van de inbreuken op het Wetboek van Economisch Recht en zijn uitvoeringsbesluiten waarvoor de in artikel XV.2 bedoelde ambtenaren de bevoegdheid hebben de onderneming te benaderen door zich voor te doen als cliënten of potentiële cliënten/Arrêté royal du 22 juin 2017 déterminant les infractions au Code de droit économique et à ses arrêtés d'exécution pour lesquelles les agents visés à l'article XV.2 disposent de la compétence d'approcher l'entreprise en se présentant comme des clients ou des clients potentiels – the "Royal Decree").

The Royal Decree implements Article XV.3/1 of the Code of Economic Law ("CEL"), which provides the statutory basis for so-called "mystery shopping" by inspectors of the Economic Inspection (see VBB on Belgian Business Law, Volume 2017, No. 4, p. 7, available at www.vbb.com). Mystery shopping can only be used when it is necessary to determine the actual circumstances encountered by regular customers or potential customers.

The Royal Decree lists the specific infringements for which mystery shopping is possible as follows:

  • Infringements of the prohibition on discrimination of customers based on their nationality or place of residence (Article III.81 CEL);
  • Infringements of the general pre-contractual information requirements, to the extent that the information is provided orally (Article VI.2 CEL);
  • Infringements of the pre-contractual information requirements with respect to distance contracts, to the extent that the information is provided by telephone (Articles VI.45, VI.46, VI.55 and VI.56 CEL);
  • Infringements of the rules on unfair trade practices against consumers (Articles VI.95, VI.100 and VI.103 CEL);
  • Infringements of the Royal Decree of 20 June 2002 establishing the operating conditions of sunbed centres (Koninklijk Besluit van 20 juni 2002 houdende voorwaarden betreffende de exploitatie van zonnecentra/Arrêté royal du 20 juin 2002 relatif aux conditions d'exploitation des centres de bronzage);
  • Infringements of the rules on information and transparency as applicable to providers of information society services (Articles XII.6 through XII.8 CEL);
  • Infringements of specific rules on trust services (Articles XII.25, §§9 and 10 and XII.26, second indent CEL);
  • Infringements of the rule that, to be authorised to describe themselves as "qualified", trust service providers must be included in the "trusted list" as provided for by Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No. 910/2014 of 23 July 2014 "on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC" (Article XII.28 CEL);
  • Infringements of the general pre-contractual information requirements applicable to practitioners of a liberal profession, to the extent that the information is provided orally (Article XIV.3 CEL);
  • Infringements of the pre-contractual information requirements with respect to distance contracts applicable to practitioners of a liberal profession, to the extent that the information is provided by telephone (Articles XIV.27 and XIV.28 CEL); and
  • Infringements of the rules on unfair trade practices against consumers as applicable to practitioners of a liberal profession (Articles XIV.62, XIV.67 and XIV.70 CEL).

The Royal Decree entered into force on 15 July 2017.

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