Commercial contracts
Every company has to deal with commercial forms of cooperation. Companies enter into relationships with customers, suppliers and partners. These agreements are of great importance for the success of the relationship, but also if the relationship comes to an end. We have years of experience in drawing up agreements, advising on and litigating for national and international clients. Our expertise includes tort law, terms and conditions, consumer law, licensing agreements, product liability, manufacturing and development (R&D) agreements, sponsorship, marketing and advertising agreements, publishing agreements, sales agreements and supplier warranties. We have specialized legal knowledge about commercial cooperation in new markets, such as e-commerce, online sales channels, affiliate marketing and online platforms. For international matters or aspects, we have a worldwide network of specialized lawyers.
Tessa de Mönnink
partner/lawyer
Annelies van Zoest
partner/lawyer
Micheline Don
partner/lawyer
News
FRANCHISE ALERT: January 1, 2023 is the deadline for implementation of the Dutch Franchise Act. Is your franchise agreement compliant?
The Dutch Franchise Act went into effect on January 1, 2021. The Act is mandatory law and franchisors and franchisees were required to conduct themselves in accordance with the Act as of that date. Specific contractual adjustments also had to be implemented immediately in new franchise agreements and renewal agreements. A two-year transition period applies to current franchise agreements. This expires on January 1, 2023. Franchise organizations still have three months to comply with the implementation obligation.
Tightening of statutory payment terms from 60 to 30 days as of 1 July 2022
On 1 July 2017, the Act to amend Book 6 of the Dutch Civil Code in connection with combating unreasonably long payment terms entered into force. This was a private member’s bill regulating that large companies cannot agree on a payment term of more than 60 days in their commercial relationship with SMEs in situations where the large company acts as debtor and the SME acts as creditor
Newsflash distribution & franchise
After a thorough review of the rules from 2010, the European Commission approved the new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and the accompanying new Vertical Guidelines on 10 May 2022. The revised VBER and vertical guidelines will enter into force on 1 June 2022.
Unfair Trade Practices in Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Act adopted and in force by 1 November 2021
The Unfair Commercial Practices in Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Act implements a European directive on this subject and will take effect on 1 November 2021. The purpose of the Act is to strengthen the position of the farmer in the chain.
The law focuses on companies that are active in the agricultural and food supply chain.
Distribution Update
In a decision of the District Court of Amsterdam of 18 August 2020, a contractual termination clause allowing to terminate the Value Added Reseller Agreement (a so-called “VAR”) with a term of notice of 6 months has been set aside