Unilever Italia SpA v. Central Food SpA

Unilever Italian SpA (Unilever) (plaintiff) entered into a contract to sell olive oil to Central Food SpA (Central Food) (defendant). Central Food informed Unilever that the olive oil delivered to Central Food by Unilever was improperly labeled under Italian law, and Central Food refused to pay Unilever for the shipment. Unilever sued Central Food for breach of contract in an Italian court. Unilever argued that the Italian law governing the labeling of olive oil was not applicable because the adoption of the law violated a European Union (EU) directive on the adoption of new laws governing technical standards by member states. To facilitate the marketing of goods throughout the EU, an EU directive required member states to provide the European Commission (the commission) with a draft of any regulation involving technical standards and to postpone the adoption into law of any such draft legislation until three months after the commission had received the draft. Italy adopted a law governing the labeling of olive oil without postponing the adoption of the law as required under the EU directive. The case was brought before an Italian court, and the court asked the European Union Court of Justice to issue a preliminary ruling on whether the EU directive could be invoked in a civil case involving private parties concerning contractual obligations.