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Food and Beverages
Food products, beverages and related services are subject to extensive regulatory requirements and complex contracts during all phases of production and marketing. Public health, environment and consumer protection are the main relevant considerations, in addition to protecting the interests of the businesses themselves.
Simont Braun assists a wide range of operators in this field during all stages of their infrastructure projects, manufacturing activities and distribution arrangements, ranging from conception to implementation. Our teams cooperate to produce opinions and provide support for transactions, negotiations and procedures in a variety of legal fields: intellectual property, e-commerce, trade practices, consumer protection, corporate, M&A, governance, real estate transactions, lease contracts and other matters of general economic law.
Our specific recent experience in this sector includes:
Simont Braun assists a wide range of operators in this field during all stages of their infrastructure projects, manufacturing activities and distribution arrangements, ranging from conception to implementation. Our teams cooperate to produce opinions and provide support for transactions, negotiations and procedures in a variety of legal fields: intellectual property, e-commerce, trade practices, consumer protection, corporate, M&A, governance, real estate transactions, lease contracts and other matters of general economic law.
Our specific recent experience in this sector includes:
- Assistance and litigation relating to trademarks and geographical name protection for beverages, food products and restaurant and catering services at both the European and Belgian levels (also in Belgian administrative proceedings and EU approvals regarding geographical names);
- Support provided to manufacturers and importers for setting up distribution networks with analysis of the merits of the specific risks and rules of the different potential structures, including competition, VAT, transportation, warehousing and rack-jobbing;
- Assistance and litigation in labelling, marketing and advertising, including nutritional claims, contracts with agencies and host providers, negotiations with regulatory authorities, promotional POS techniques and sponsorship agreements;
- Support provided to manufacturers and importers relating to individual and collective purchase agreements and other delivery processes (including warning and recall issues);
- Assistance and litigation regarding commercial leases, business transfers and the restructuring of relations among shareholders or with suppliers.