> Of James R. Frysinger > Wow! I sure did misread that message, didn't I, Terry! Yes, I missed the > quotation mark at the start of the first paragraph.
Yes that is what I thought. My theories of maximum communication include: * keep it short * quote directly rather than expect people to read a link I failed to 'keep it short'. I originally drafted the message as a succinct half screenful but then decided to post the whole lot. The bit about Germany is interesting... The transition of member states to the single (internal) market is the foundation of many things. The Cassis de Dijon case was a technical dispute about the legality of a French product being imported into Germany. The principle at stake was mutual recognition. Since German national law was declared to be restrictive within the terms of the single market, it effectively ended the validity of national regulation for all member states. Thus UK regulations forbidding the sale of honey in 500g jars could be challenged by any member state that does allow it (as I understand it). On the basis of what little I know, I would vote to eliminate the regulation of package size. I would even tolerate a short term increase in non-rational metric sizes because I am sure that rational metric will prevail in the long term. This is, of course, an area where the US has an interest and can express a view. However due to the complicated politics of transition, I expect more regulation not less. We might see more products being regulated (i.e. the concatenation of product lists of 15 member states) but with an increased range of sizes. On the bright side for US exporters/importers is that there will be only one set of regulations not 15. -- Terry Simpson Human Factors Consultant [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.connected-systems.com Phone: +44 7850 511794
