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"Hamon Act": New arrêté dated 18 December 2014 relating to information concerning legal warranties contained in the Terms and Conditions of Sale
Article IT and Data Protection Intellectual Property, Media, and Art Law Competition, Retail and Consumer Law Commercial and International Contracts | 07/01/15 | 2 min. | Mahasti Razavi
Further to the Hamon Act of 17 March 2014, an arrêté dated 18 December 2014, published in the Journal Officiel on 26 December 2014, sets out the information to be provided in relation to legal warranties in Terms and Condition of Sale applicable to consumer contracts.
As a reminder, Article L.133-3 al. 1 of the French Consumer Code, added by the Hamon Act, provides that:
“The Terms and Conditions of Sale applicable to consumer contracts shall mention: 1) in accordance with specifications to be laid down in an arrêté of the minister of the economy, the existence, implementation conditions and content of the legal warranty of conformity and the warranty against latent defects, due by the seller.”
In this respect, the arrêté specifies that the Terms and Condition of Sale must include the name and address of the seller providing the warranty of conformity of the product sold, allowing the consumer to submit a claim in respect of the legal warranty of conformity or of warranty against latent defects.
Above all, in relation to the "existence, implementation conditions and content” of these warranties, the arrêté specifies that the Terms and Condition of Sale must:
- Mention that the seller shall be liable for any conformity defects of the product as per Article L.211-4 et seq of the French Consumer Code and for any latent defects as per Articles 1641 et seq of the French Civil Code;
- Contain, in an information box, a notice stating that, when a consumer raises a lack of conformity, (i) he has two years as of delivery of the product to submit a claim; (ii) he may choose between repair or replacement of the product, subject to cost conditions provided in Article L211-9 of the French Consumer Code, (iii) he does not have to provide any proof of the existence of the conformity defect during the first six months following delivery of the product (this period will be extended to 24 months as of 18 March 2016) and stating that, (iv) the legal warranty of conformity applies independently of any commercial warranty that may be granted additionally ;
- Specify, in the same information box, that the consumer may decide to make a claim on the grounds of the legal warranty against latent defects as defined in Article 1641 of the French Civil Code and that, in that case, he may choose between cancellation of the sale or reduction in the sale price, in accordance with Article 1644 of the French Civil Code.
The arrêté shall come into force on 1 March 2015. Terms and Conditions of Sale applicable to consumer contracts must therefore be amended accordingly by this date.
Mahasti Razavi, Partner
Chloé Minet, Counsel