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Protection for consumers and producers or questions with more than one answer

The Ordinance for specific requirements for dairy products introduced new requirements for them and for the imitating them, containing milk in their composition, as well as requirements for the producers and merchants of these products and their labeling. The idea is to regulate and limit the use of powdered milk and vegetable fats in traditional dairy products and to provide in such a way greater protection of both consumers and Bulgarian producers. However, a number of issues and challenges have been simultaneously put to the traders and manufacturers of both kinds of products.

Different treatment of domestic and foreign production

In the first place, this is the requirement that the new rules apply only for products, produced and offered on the Bulgarian market. For products, produced outside the country, but offered here, only the rules for translation of the names are applicable. This raises the question of a discriminatory treatment of imitating products, produced locally and those products, produced outside the country. Under the Ordinance, the local products must not contain any dairy names as images of milk, cheese and must be sold on individual stands. At the same time, the imitating products, made outside the country, have to be sold alongside local dairy foods, as long as the word “milk” or “milk names” such as cheese, butter, cream, etc., reserved only for dairy products (“milk names”) are not presented in the name of the foreign products. Is not there any danger of confusing the two types of products and of deceiving, accordingly injuring the local producers, who have to follow the more stringent restrictive rules? On the other hand, does the mentioned passive rule mean that a product, traditionally known as cheese, produced in the European Union, but containing vegetable fat, cannot be sold in Bulgaria under its usual name, but has to be called a product with vegetable oil, blue delicacy and others? Does this not lead to greater consumer confusion, thinking that cheese as part of the name is commonly used for this type of products and its composition and origin are known, which does not require a change of its name?

In this connection, it has to be mentioned that Council Regulation №1234/2007of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organization of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products incorporated into the Ordinance, provides the possibility of an exception to the milk names. This exception was regulated by the repealed Ordinance for specific requirements to the names and labeling of milk and dairy products on the market, and the exception allowed the use of those mentioned names for imitation dairy products, which they are traditionally used for and their origin and composition are known, as well as the use of these terms in describing the characteristic quality of the product. Although the exception is not presented in the new ordinance, it applies under the Regulation, and Bulgaria can send a list with the names, which it considers as falling under the exception on the territory of the country to the European Commission.

Unclarities about dairy products

There are also unclear moments about the listed in the Ordinance milk names, which, as stated, can be used only for diary foods and drinks. These are whey, butter, cheese, yogurt, kefir, koumiss, cheese, cottage, yellow cheese (“kashkaval”), buttermilk, casein, dehydrated milk fats, fruit and/or flavored, and/or concentrated dairy products, as there are specified requirements that must be met for each one, in order to be referred in the mentioned order. For example, yellow cheese (“kashkaval”) is used for a type hard cheese, suffered under cheddaring and vapors compressed curd. If this is not met, the product cannot be considered as dairy product and cannot be called “kashkaval”. There arises the question whether the ayran for example, which was excluded from dairy names with the amendments as of 4.01.2013, can contain vegetable fats. Do not the new rules deviate from their purpose to protect the health of the consumers by using vegetable fats in traditional dairy products. But what is a dairy product – this name should be used for a product, exclusively derived from milk, with the understanding that there can be additional substances, necessary for its production, provided that these substances are not used for replacing, in whole or in part, any milk ingredient. However, it is possible for dairy products to contain up to 20% dry milk, but above this percentage the product is already imitating and not a dairy product. In the latter, the addition of fats and protein with non-milk origin is prohibited, except gelatin, which can be added for a technological purpose in the yogurt, in fruit and/or concentrated dairy products.

Requirements for imitating products

The requirements for imitating products are also interesting. They are defined as products, analogue of the milk ones, listed above, in which the milk ingredient is replaced by a partial or complete substitute such as fat and/or protein of non-milk origin. This provides a clarification of the scope of the Ordinance and in particular that the described already cheese, “kashkaval”, yogurt, etc. made however from milk and vegetable fats, fall under the new rules. Accordingly, it follows that the ice cream, for example, does not fall within the Ordinance, unless it is called milk ice cream. The milk ice cream should not contain vegetable fats, but only the legally permitted diary ingredients. It was also mentioned that the name of the imitating products should not contain the word “milk” or milk names. This means that a spreadable product for example, containing milk and vegetable fats, cannot be called cream-cheese, but rather spreads cream with vegetable fats or otherwise, but compulsory without the word “milk, cheese, cream” etc. It is not allowed the imitating products to contain in their name the label and any form of advertising or performance specifications that indicate or suggest that they have the characteristics of milk or a dairy product. Moreover, as it was mentioned, only the foreign products must meet the Ordinance’s requirements for the name. The Ordinance’s other provisions only apply for the domestic products. In this example, if the spreadable product is not Bulgarian, and is named correctly, this should mean that its package or its advertising can contain pictures of milk or a dairy product, since the ban to avoid milk names does not apply to it. A misleading could be potentially claimed under the Consumer Protection Act, but if the food ingredients are listed on the label and it is labeled correctly, this would hardly lead to any sanctions.

However, the word milk and milk names can be used in the imitating products, but only in order to explain the basic raw and ingredients, they are made of. It is important to be noted that the imitating products must be placed on individual stands on the market, clearly labeled “Imitating products, containing milk in their composition”. This should provide greater recognition by consumers which products are made of pure milk and which ones contain vegetable fats, such as palm oil, for example.

Also new is the requirement that the producers of milk and dairy products, who cut and repackage milk and dairy products, cannot produce, cut and repackage imitating products on the territory of an enterprise at the same time. This rule is also seen controversially, because, on the one hand, it guarantees a separation in the production of dairy and imitating products, but – on the other hand, it restricts the activity of the Bulgarian dairy enterprises, which will have to build another enterprise in order to continue producing dairy products and their cheaper analogues.

The article has been published in Bulgarian, in Capital Daily.

The different methods and basic steps in the transaction under Bulgarian law

Whether on the side of the seller or the buyer, the disposition of operating business is undoubtedly a risky activity, in which besides determination, there is need of knowledge in many areas, some of which are the legal aspects.

Methods

The most common participants in trade are limited liability companies and joint stock companies, and this article is limited namely to the acquisition of business carried out by these companies.

The buyer can acquire all shares in the company, carrying out the business. The transaction is concluded between the buyer and the shareholders in the company, i.e. the business remains in the same company, but its owner changes.

An alternative to the above is the acquisition of the business as a going concern, as a set of rights, obligations and factual relations. In this case seller in the transaction is the very company, whose business is subject to the sale. While the rights and obligations of the company have proprietary expression, the concept factual relations is abstract, as such are the clientele and the reputation of the company, the made contacts and others. The factual relationships are those which distinguish the sale of a company as a developed business and add a significant value to the deal compared with the sale of its individual components, even if the latter constitute the substantial part of its property. The buyer, however, may still aim to acquire precisely selected assets of it, which form the core business without acquiring the entire company with its obligations.

Advantages and disadvantages

In some cases the situation determines the choice of the parties for the method of acquisition of the business, for example if the company carries out various activities, only one of which is subject to the sale. However, if the choice depends on the parties, they might have different views on how to perform the transaction, because the advantages for the seller are disadvantages for the buyer and vice versa. The owners of a company will often prefer to sell their shares, whereas the buyer would prefer to acquire the business from the company. This is because during the sale of all shares of the company, the seller takes no responsibility for its liabilities (unless such agreed in the contract between the parties), while the buyer acquires it with all its liabilities, which in some cases cannot be known or properly assessed. In the case of sale of the business as a going concern the shareholders remain owners of the company and the latter remains liable to the creditors for its liabilities before the sale, jointly with the buyer, to the extent of the acquired rights. Moreover – the creditors are obliged to turn first to the seller. Even if the parties have agreed that the buyer takes responsibility for such liabilities, this will not affect the rights of third parties, who can take actions against the company, unless they have expressly released it from liability. Another feature of the sale of business as going concern is the buyer’s obligation to manage separately the company for a period of six months from the registration of the transfer in the Commercial Register. This protects the creditors of the seller and the buyer from integration of the transferred business with the remaining property of the buyer, as in this period, the creditors can seek enforcement or security for their claims, which had occurred before the date of registration.

While at sale of shares of a company the purchase price is due to the shareholders, at the sale of company as going concern the company receives it itself, and to that end the tax issues can have a crucial role.

The contract

The sale of all shares in a limited liability company is made by a contract with notarized signatures, and the shares in a joint stock company are transferred according to their type – for example bearer shares by their transmission and the registered shares – by endorsement. To take effect, the change of the owner is entered into the Commercial Register and in the transfer of registered shares – in the book of the shareholders. The whole company as a going concern is transferred by a contract with notarized signatures and also has to be entered into the Commercial Register and the Registry Office, when a part of it is a real estate or a property right. Before proceeding to the formal transfer or the so called completion of the transaction, the parties usually regulate their relations by a contract that has elements of a preliminary one. This contract has no transfer action, but regulates the rights and obligations of the parties before, during and after the completion. Usually, the first “draft” is prepared by the consultants of the buyer, since the majority of the contract is intended to protect the buyer. While the seller knows what he/she will receive, there are a number of unknowns for the buyer, as hidden liabilities of the company, encumbrances on the property and others. Thus, some conditions can be regulated in the contract that must be met by the seller in order the completion to occur (e.g. deletion of a pledge or acquiring of a permission, which is important for the business), as well as representations and warranties that protect the buyer in any breach of the contract. In order to identify the questions and how they can be resolved, so as the buyer to be satisfied, it is strongly recommended before the signing of this binding contract a thorough check of the target company to be performed or this is the so called due diligence. The seller, in turn, will seek to obtain contractual protection for the price, especially when a part of the payment is due after the completion. The seller may require a security on an asset, respectively on the shares, guarantee from a parent company, bank guarantee or the remaining part of the payment to be paid into an escrow account.

Workers

When there is a sale of all shares in the company, there is no change of the employer; the employment relations remain as they were at the time of the sale, as the buyer “acquires” them together with the company, as well as any possible obligations to the employees, arising prior to the sale. The seller is not legally liable for such obligations and for this reason it is reasonable for the buyer to require contractual guarantees in case that old debts of the company to the workers reveal, about which the seller has not been informed.

It is different when the company is sold as a going concern, even when the object of acquisition is not the entire company, but a significant part of its property. The employment relations are transferred to the buyer at the date of the change by the law, but for the obligations to the employees, arising prior to the sale, the buyer and the seller shall be jointly responsible. Moreover, the old and the new employer have to inform the workers about the intended change and its consequences at least two months before its performance and in some cases also to consult with them. For both types of acquisition, actions of the seller or the buyer as dismissing workers or changing the working conditions before or immediately after the acquisition may be a ground for claims by the workers.

Concentration and taxes

Upon acquisition of business as going concern or shares in a company, it is possible an obligation to notify for concentration before the Commission for Protection of Competition to arise, if the turnovers of the participants in the transaction exceed the thresholds provided by the law.

The participants in the transaction have to pay particular attention to the tax aspects, which are subject to a separate deep analysis.

The article has been published in Bulgarian, in Capital Daily.

Individuals have the right to make at any time a request to the administrator for deletion, correction or blocking of data, processing of which does not meet the requirements of the law.

Everyone has the right of protection of personal data. This fundamental right is enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. In the field of personal data to date, the founding instrument of the existing legislation of the EU is Directive 95/46/EO, which harmonizes the national legislations, setting strict limits on the collection and use of data and requires each Member State to set up an independent national body, responsible for data protection.

In 2002 Bulgaria, implementing the necessary regulation, introduced the Law on protection of personal data (LPPD), which regulates in details the relations in the field of processing and protecting the rights of individuals, while processing their personal data. For its part, the Commission for Personal Data Protection is an administrative body in the territory of the country, which has the power to protect the rights of the citizens, when they are violated under the LPPD.

What is personal data?

The law considers as personal any information that can identify us physically, as it usually includes name, date of birth, picture, e-mail address, phone number, but it can also include credit card information, IP address, information on social networks. There is also another type of personal data, provided with special protection. The law introduces a general prohibition on processing sensitive personal data, relating to such, revealing racial or ethnic origin, political, religious purposes or concerning health or sex life of people. There are explicit cases, which allow the processing of such data, when this is expressly permitted by the law.

Who has access to it and who it is provided to?

Not everyone could use our personal data, but only the so-called by the law personal data administrator, who can be a natural or a legal person, as well as a public authority or a local authority, who determines alone or together with another person the purposes and means for processing of personal data. In fact, all public authorities, tax, municipal, social and judicial authorities have access to the personal information of the citizens, as well as the private sector, where banks, telecommunication companies, internet providers, employers constantly process personal data. The virtual world makes easier the accessing and processing such data. According to the LPPD personal data must be processed lawfully and in good faith for a clearly defined period of time and in relation to the purposes, which they are used for, i.e. the law “ensures” that the data will not be used for purposes other than those, provided by the law, and will not be submitted to third parties without the expressly stated acceptance of the owner. However, there are many cases of misuse of personal data.

Misuse of personal data

All citizens can become victims of providing free their personal data every day. For example, we witness the misuse of personal data, stored under employment contracts, bank accounts, illegal transfers of property, “stolen identity”, misappropriation of funds. Free access to the Commercial Register “helps” change of ownership of companies and citizens. To prevent unauthorized intervention, a new system is planned, which will allow the managers or members of the companies to receive a SMS, when someone tries to change the management or the account ownership of the company. Not rare are also the cases, when public authorities or private organizations publicize personal information. In connection with court proceedings, personal data of natural persons (litigants, lawyers, etc.) is often provided. In this connection, it has to be taken into consideration that the Personal Data Protection Commission has issued mandatory instructions to the courts in Bulgaria to anonymise the court acts upon their publication.

In subtle ways different financial advisors acquire personal information such as mobile phone number, and directly worry the owner with aggressive proposals, which, if not “cut” immediately, rise to a significant waste of time.

Misappropriated personal data is also used for criminal activity, such as statement (containing properly executed all the true data of the sender) to the other party in established trade relations, which informs the recipient to continue paying on a “new” bank account, which in fact is not the owner’s one.

How to protect?

As mentioned above, each of us can become subject to processing of such data or can process such data, but also every citizen has the right to know who, when and what purpose for information is collected. The right to information and the right to access processed personal data on individuals are fundamental rights, regulated in the LPPD. Individuals have the right to request at any time that the administrator:

-to delete, correct or block personal data, processing of which does not meet the requirements of the law

-to notify third parties, who have accessed such data about any deletion, correction or blocking except the cases, when this is impossible or involves disproportionate effort

LPPD regulates the right to object to the actions of the administrator of personal data. This right can be exercised, regarding the access request and the decision of “the administrator of personal data” and includes the right to object to the administrator:

-the processing of personal data in case of a legal basis for that (when the objection is founded, the personal data of the individual can no longer be processed)

-the processing of personal data for direct marketing purposes (for example, the Law on electronic communications provides that the consumer has the right to express disagreement with the future receipt of advertisements)

Protection can be sought from the Personal Data Protection Commission, as well as from the court, according to the general rules of the Administrative Procedure Code, and if it is established that the personal data has been processed for criminal purposes, under the Penal Code or the Penal Procedural Code. Knowledge of the regulatory framework is required, but do not neglect the right to control the information, concerning your personal data.

Seventeen years after the adoption of the European Directive in the field of personal data 27 Members still face legal uncertainty and the need of effective implementation of the regulation. The citizens increasingly feel that they have no control over their data, especially when it is submitted online. Today, in the world of evolving technologies, the European Commission provides a single choice of rules for data protection, valid for the whole European Union. There is a need for greater security of our personal data. The European Commission goes further by providing the right to be forgotten, and allows citizens to delete their data, if there is no legal basis for maintaining it. We shall see how we will be able to exercise our rights of European citizens in Bulgaria more effectively.

The article has been published in Bulgarian, in Capital Daily.