Parallel Imports Europe: A Big Day For Consumers

May 3, 2007 - PRLog -- The first free community of european parallel dealers is online

www.parallelimportseurope.com

This virtual community center will help members to find partners for their parallel imports (buyers, sellers, brokers, logistic companies, consulting companies and so on) to know more informations about this market in europe in just a mouse-click.

The mission is to help to create new business opportunities for european operators (buyer and sellers) through a community innovation approach based on networking and parallel market.

The vision is to create a qualified community and community voice in Europe's parallel market.

.  What's about parallel import?
The parallel import refers to a genuine (ie. non-counterfeit) product placed on the market in one country, which is subsequently imported into a second country.
Parallel importers ordinarily purchase products in one country at a price (P1) which is cheaper than the price at which they are sold in a second country (P2), import the products into the second country, and sell the products in that country at a price which is usually between P1 and P2.
This form of parallel import occurs when the price of an item is significantly higher in one country than another.
Entrepreneurs buy the product where it is available cheaply, often at retail but sometimes at wholesale, import it legally to the target market and sell it at a price which provides a profit but which is below the normal market price there.
International efforts to promote free trade, including reduced tariffs and harmonized national standards, facilitate the parallel imports where manufacturers attempt to preserve highly disparate pricing.
Read more about parallel import, grey market and arbitrage definitions at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_import
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_market
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbitrage

·  Can a manufacturer stop or restrict parallel imports?
The manufacturer or the owner of an industrial or commercial right may indeed ask the national authorities or courts of the Member State of destination to protect the specific subject-matter of these rights. In other words, a patent holder may seek protection of his exclusive right to use an invention with a view to manufacturing industrial products and putting them into circulation for the first time, either directly or by the grant of licences to third parties. But as soon as he markets his product for the first time in any one Member State, he loses his right to restrict the marketing of the product in other Member States (i.e. his exclusive marketing right is exhausted throughout the Internal Market, under the principle of 'Community exhaustion'). The parallel importer may then buy the product in one Member State and market it in another.

·  What are the potential benefits from parallel imports?
Parallel trade in general is based on the principle of free movement of goods and has contributed to the development of the EU Internal Market to the extent that more products at different prices move from one national market to the other and are thus available to the purchaser. The EU Court has ruled (Case C 44/01 delivered on April 8, 2003 paragraph 63 of the judgement) that "in completing the Internal Market as an area without internal frontiers in which free competition is to be ensured, parallel imports play an important role in preventing the compartmentalisation of national markets".

See more info in the website (ex."the exhaustion of rights"):

www.parallelimportseurope.com

Website: www.parallelimportseurope.com