To put my views in a nutshell (for a change -- grin) the pro side of the EU harmonizing package sizes across its member states is that it provides an opportunity to ban half-pound and pound packages in disguise. The con side is that it is a restriction and contrary to free market practices and would be more costly to American producers sending goods to the EU. My wishes are that the EU abandon standard sizes but vehemently and ruthlessly demand metric-only labeling. Soon enough, the 227 g packages will become 200 g or 250 g packages and the 454 g packages will become 400 g or 500 g packages. I'm also a strong proponent of unit pricing for all goods, both in the EU and in the US, and I would have those done in metric units only as well -- on both sides of the Atlantic.
Jim [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > On Sun, 28 Apr 2002 12:01:29 -0400, you wrote: > > >Wow! I sure did misread that message, didn't I, Terry! Yes, I missed the > >quotation mark at the start of the first paragraph. I suppose it's > >American style to repeat those with every paragraph and to provide the > >closing quotation mark only at the end of the last paragraph of a > >quotation. > > It's not just a US style, Jim. > > I wouldn't hold your breath for any harmonisation of packages sizes > across the EU. This has been in the pipeline for years. I can't > believe it's still not progressed. This is one reason why many of the > UK Prescribed Quantities are still based on the old imperial sizes. > The government did not want to amend the legislation to force ne > metric sizes if there was a possibility that a) different member > states decided on different preferred sizes, or b) it would be decided > to do away with them altogether and allow manufacturers to sell in any > size they want. > > As a result, we have ground coffee in 250 g and 227 g packs, and milk > in 568 ml and 500 ml packs. I don't think vinegar is covered by these > regulations, but we still have glass bottles in 1 and 2 pints, yet the > plastic containers are in rational sizes. So there is some way to go, > and various reasons driving the thoughts behind them. > > Chris > > -- > UK Metric Association: http://www.metric.org.uk/ -- Metric Methods(SM) "Don't be late to metricate!" James R. Frysinger, CAMS http://www.metricmethods.com/ 10 Captiva Row e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Charleston, SC 29407 phone/FAX: 843.225.6789
