The Italian Parliament gives new powers to the Italian Antitrust Authority with respect to unfair commercial practices and misleading advertising enforcement (Legislative Decrees No. 145 and 146)

On September 21, 2007, the Italian Antitrust Authority (the « Authority » or « IAA ») was given additional powers to curb unfair commercial practices and misleading advertising. The Authority has now been empowered to act ex officio without the express request of consumers and/or public entities [1]. I. Unfair Commercial PracticesA. Scope of Application In general terms, a commercial practice is unfair if it is contrary to the requirements of professional diligence and materially distorts, or is likely to materially distort, the economic behavior of consumers in their choice of a product offered for sale [2]. There are two types of unfair commercial practices: « misleading practices, » which may consist of « misleading actions » or « misleading omissions » [3], and « aggressive