The waiting period preceding the winter sales starts on 15 November

Following the approval by the Belgian Council of Ministers of a bill aiming to modernise Belgian legislation on commercial practices and bring it into line with EU directives, certain consumers and traders may have lingering doubts about the start of the waiting period preceding the winter sales.

Among the bill’s provisions, the start of the waiting period preceding the sales is set at 6 December. However, since the bill still has to be debated in the Belgian parliament, the current legal provisions remain in force. Therefore the waiting period will indeed start on 15 November 2009 and last until 1 January 2010 inclusive.

By way of reminder, during the waiting period traders cannot advertise price reductions or apply such reductions.