This article is an updated version of Chapter 2 originally from our 2025 blog series “Retail promotions & pricing: legal essentials for businesses” and was revised in May 2026 following the Council of State‘s decisions of 20 May 2026 to annul fines imposed on textile retailers for breaching Belgium’s statutory sales period rules.
Promotions and price reductions are powerful tools in the retail sector, and are subject to legal regulations. From sales and liquidation sales to special offers, coupons, contests and price comparisons, retailers must strike a balance between effective marketing and legal compliance. In this blog series, we explore key legal principles to help navigate promotional strategies as well as the main pitfalls. It is not an exhaustive overview of the rules but rather a guide to the main points to keep in mind.
This series will cover:
- Price reduction announcements: the legal framework and best practices
- Sales periods: rules, restrictions, and compliance
- Liquidation sales: when and how to legally conduct them
- “Buy One, Get One Free? ” The legal do’s and don’ts of joint offers
- Promotional contests: how to organise them without legal risks
- Coupons and vouchers: don’t forget the required information
- Gift cards: legal considerations and recommendations
Professional legal support is highly recommended when running promotional actions, whether for examining envisaged promotional actions, validating advertising material or drafting the applicable general terms and conditions. Indeed the Economic Inspection keeps a close watch and can impose heavy penalties on retailers failing to comply with the rules.
Part 2 – Sales periods: rules, restrictions, and compliance
In this second chapter of our series “Retail promotions & pricing: legal essentials for businesses”, we present an overview of the specific rules governing sales in Belgium. These rules were recently called into question by the Council of State in a series of judgments handed down in May 2026 and may be subject to legislative change in the near future.
What do you mean by sales?
Sales are not just any kind of price reduction announcement; they are strictly regulated by law. During the sales period, retailers are allowed to sell at a loss, which in principle is prohibited under Belgian law.
As we detailed in part one, Belgian law does not prohibit selling at reduced prices as such but only prohibits a sale under the names “Soldes”, “Opruiming”, “Solden” or “Schlussverkauf” or similar terms outside the periods set out below.
Belgian case law has held that the words and phrases in the following non-exhaustive list are similar to “Soldes”, “Opruiming”, “Solden” or “Schlussverkauf”: “Sales”; “End of series”; “Great February sale”; “Sale of winter models”; “Summer is approaching, we are closing our winter stock”. So, caution should be exercised when announcing promotional periods outside the sales period.
When can I advertise sales?
In Belgium, the offer for sale and operating the sales under the name(s) “Soldes”, “Opruiming”, “Solden” or “Schlussverkauf”, or under any other similar word or term, is only permitted during the sales period set by law:
- from 3 January to 31 January inclusive
- from 1 July to 31 July inclusive.
If the first day of the period is a Sunday, then the sales period will begin on the day before.
The retailer may announce the sales and promote the sales under these names before the beginning of the sales periods, provided that such advertising indicates the date from which the promotion takes effect.
What are the restrictions during the sales?
Only goods may be offered for sale that: (1) the retailer has in its possession at the beginning of the sales periods; and (2) that it has offered for sale at least 30 days before the beginning of that period.
The rules on price reduction announcements apply during the sales periods. Therefore, retailers must indicate the reference price next to the reduced price (see part one).
What is the waiting period?
For the clothing, leather goods and footwear sectors, the law prohibits price reduction announcements that take effect during a period preceding the sales period.
The waiting or pre-sales period is the period of one month before the beginning of the sales period, that is to say:
- from 3 December to 2 January inclusive (when 3 January is a Sunday, then the waiting period is from 2 December to 1 January);
- from 1 June to 30 June inclusive (when 1 July falls on a Sunday, then the waiting period is from 31 May to 29 June).
The prohibition for the clothing, leather goods and footwear sectors also entails a ban on the distribution of titles entitling a reduction in prices during the same waiting period.
The prohibition to announce price reductions during the waiting period does not apply to offers for sale and sales made during commercial events organized during the waiting period provided they are organised by or with the participation of local business groups and have a maximum duration of four days per waiting period.
During this waiting period, joint offers (e.g. “Buy one, get one free”) are possible and widely used in practice.
Are these rules still applicable as of May 2026?
The legal framework governing sales has recently been called into question. By judgments nos. 266.735, 266.736 and 266.737 of 20 May 2026, the Council of State annulled the administrative fines imposed by the FPS Economy on three multi-brand textile retailers, operating both online and through physical stores, for infringement of the sales rules under Article VI.25 of the Code of Economic Law (“CDE”).
The Council of State held that Article VI.25 CDE falls within the scope of the European Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC). According to the Council of State, this provision does not exclusively protect the interests of competitors but also pursues consumer protection objectives. Since the Directive aims at full harmonisation and does not provide for such a prohibition, Article VI.25 CDE is incompatible with it and must be set aside. As a result, the administrative fine decisions were found to rest on an unlawful legal basis and were annulled.
Importantly, these judgments annul the individual fine decisions, not the legislation itself. Article VI.25 CDE remains in force and the FPS Economy may continue to impose fines for infringements. However, these judgments constitute a significant precedent that businesses may invoke to challenge future enforcement decisions. They may also prompt the Belgian legislator to reconsider and amend the current sales rules.
Conclusion
The rules on sales seem to be well known, yet in 2023, just over a quarter of inspections by the Economic Inspection relating to sales revealed a breach of the law. The more recent rules on advertising price reductions and indicating the reference price are certainly the element that retailers are still struggling to apply correctly.
Beyond compliance with the existing rules, the legal landscape surrounding sales is now subject to significant uncertainty following the Council of State judgments of 20 May 2026. While the rules remain in force and enforceable, those judgments constitute a meaningful precedent that may be invoked to challenge future enforcement decisions and could ultimately prompt the Belgian legislator to reform the current framework. Retailers should therefore monitor further developments closely and seek legal advice when facing enforcement action.