Deregulating current rules on packaging will help increase cross-border competition for industry & consumer choice on the market, the EC stated after the vote in Strasbourg. Once implemented, the law will give food processors, among others, the option to sell the deregulated products in customised containers, rather than the pre-set sizes mandated by various member states & current EU legislation. It would also prevent member States from legislating on pack sizes other than those still regulated by EU law. This could save food processors the costs involved in making different sized packs for different markets. Parliament voted to retain mandatory sizes for spirits, wines, soluble coffee, brown & white sugar, drinking milk, butter, ground or unground roasted coffee, dried pasta, rice & most products sold in aerosols. Products such as these, as staples of the average consumer's diet, should only be sold in a restricted number of sizes, MEPs argued during the debate.
