I don’t know much about Belgium.  I know they make great chocolates.  The country has also produced a couple of champion female tennis players.  I also recall they are the host country for a massive bureaucracy associated with the total farce that is the European Community.

Other than that, I’m stumped.

And now we have the ruling by one of their courts regarding billion dollar mlm company, Herbalife.  They claim that Herbalife is a dodgy pyramid scheme.

This is the conclusion the court came to last week after a long investigation into the 31 year old direct sales giant.

I’m a bit miffed by the charges made against the  company.  Normally these accusations are directed at newbie companies that are possibly crossing the line in terms of their sales practices.

Face it, the way legislators around the world have concocted their anti pyramid laws, ANY company can be pilloried by over eager politicians and bureaucrats.  It’s a stacked deck with those in the coercive sector having the power.

According to Herbalife the company ‘plans to appeal a recent Belgian Commercial Court judgment in a case brought by local consumer organization Test-Aankoop in 2004.’

The ruling claims that the company is in violation of Belgian law in relation to ‘unfair commercial practices.’  Opportunity is given to Herbalife to modify their practices, however if they don’t satisfy the terms of the court judgment, a maximum fine of 250,000 euros may be imposed.

Earlier today Herbalife issued a statement, an extract of which is as follows:

“While the Belgian market represents less than 0.65 percent of the company’s worldwide net sales, Herbalife remains fully committed to supporting its Belgian independent distributors and the large customer base they have built over the many years Herbalife has been in Belgium. The company firmly believes its sales method is in compliance with all applicable Belgian laws.

Herbalife believes the judgment contains factual errors and is based on misinterpretations of the law and its direct-selling sales model. Herbalife remains committed to its multi-level direct-selling sales model and is confident that, with clarifications in certain aspects of its business, there will be no doubt as to its compliance with all applicable Belgian laws.”

Hopefully justice will ultimately prevail.