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| **Business Alert: Metric Only Requirements for the European Union     |
| begin 2010**                                                          |
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| Gwen Lyle                                                             |
|                                                                       |
| July 2006                                                             |
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Beginning January 1, 2010, the European Union Council Directive
[80/181/EEC](../EU%20Metric%20Directive%2020102.pdf) (Metric Directive)
will allow the use of only metric units, and prohibit the use of any
other measurements for most products sold in the European Union (EU).
Going well beyond labeling, the Metric Directive will make the sole use
of metric units obligatory in all aspects of life in the European Union,
extending to areas such as product literature and advertising.

**Conflicting Requirements of the EU Metric Directive and the U.S. Fair
Packaging and Labeling Act**

In 1980, the European Council adopted Directive 80/181/EEC relating to
legal units of measurement, convinced that the adoption of one system of
measurement, the international system of units (SI), at the European
community level was necessary to eliminate internal obstacles to trade.
To ease the transition to metric units, the Directive provided for the
labeling of products in both metric and other units of measurement,
termed \"supplementary indications\", until the end of 1989. These
supplementary units of measurement were specified as the legal imperial
units of measurement, and this extension was given because of their
usage at the time in the United Kingdom and Ireland, although the
postponement also benefited American exporters. Since then, the
Directive has been amended three times. Finally, the European Commission
recommended a 10-year deferral of this aspect of the metric Directive
prior to implementation and extended the use of dual labeling until
December 31, 2009. The current postponement is considered to be the
transition period and the legislation is already in place in the EU
Member States to allow the Metric Directive to take effect when this
last deadline expires. There will not be a delay in implementation. When
the Directive becomes effective, it will become effective in all Member
States at that time. Enforcement will be the responsibility of the
Member States and the level of enforcement will likely vary from Member
State to Member State.

The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA), a U.S. law, was designed to
encourage the use of the metric system in the United States, and
requires that consumer package labels be dual labeled; that is, list
both metric and [U.S. customary
units](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._customary_units), or imperial
units. The FPLA governs the labeling requirements for most consumer
products, although some goods, including cameras and automotive
accessories, fall under State requirements. As of today, all but four
States have changed their legislation to allow the use of metric only,
but the Federal legislation preventing it remains firmly in place.

Unless the Metric Directive is amended or the implementation date is
extended again, leaving U.S. customary units on a box or label will be
illegal in the EU as of Jan. 1, 2010. None of the EU Member States will
permit dual indications of measurement. This will apply to labels,
packaging, advertising, catalogs, technical manuals, and user
instructions.

When the Directive goes into force, it will end a longstanding practice
in the European trade community of allowing manufacturers flexibility in
how they label their products. When implemented, the Metric Directive
will also create a standards inconsistency with U.S. law, as the Fair
Packaging and Labeling Act will still require the labels of many
consumer products to include both metric and U.S. customary units. Many
companies on both sides of the Atlantic who make consumer products will
have to create separate labels: one for the U.S. market, including both
metric and imperial units, and another for the EU market, displaying
only metric units, thus imposing additional costs on many businesses
engaged in transatlantic trade.

The global nature of the marketplace means that this Directive could
have a considerable impact on both U.S. and European companies. The
conflicting legal requirements will force both U.S. and EU manufacturers
to use two sets of labels. This incompatibility of the FPLA and the EU
Metric Directive will impose additional costs on many businesses engaged
in transatlantic trade in consumer goods by creating the need for
separate packaging, labeling, warehousing, and inventory systems. These
additional costs will result in higher prices for American and European
consumers, but with no value added. A survey done in 1999, by the 82
companies and associations that formed the Transatlantic Labeling
Alliance to respond to this issue, projected that the EU Metric
Directive could adversely affect U.S.-EU trade at more than \$118
billion in consumer goods and \$143 billion in capital goods annually.
Compliance costs were estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of
dollars. 

**Call to U.S. and European Industry**

With the directive deadline less than four years away, business
organizations have begun to mobilize for legislative action on both
sides of the Atlantic. For example, the National Association of
Manufacturers (NAM) and the European-America Business Council (EABC)
have issued a [joint position
paper](http://www.eabc.org/policypapers/EABC-NAM_policy_Metric_Labeling.html)
on the subject. NEMA has also issued a statement on the topic that can
be read at on their
[website](http://www.nema.org/media/pr/20060612a.cfm). For NEMA, the
issue at hand is not whether the U.S. should "go metric". American
electrical equipment manufacturers are neither opposed to the metric
system nor against permitting flexibility in using the metric system or
dual labeling, where appropriate. But from a NEMA and an electroindustry
perspective, the electrical manufacturing industry can neither readily
nor safely comply with the Directive because of what it calls
\"fundamental and profound differences between the U.S. and the European
built environment\", such as installation codes.

U.S. industry generally prefers that the system stay as it is now; that
is, for industry to be allowed sector by sector to decide when it is
most convenient and advantageous to make the change to metric. Advocates
for this position argue that allowing the options of either metric-only
or dual-unit labeling serves the interests of both producers and
consumers.  Labels can be adapted to consumers' needs and preferences,
and production and marketing costs can be reduced to help keep prices
down.   NEMA points out that dual marking has already been successfully
used for an extensive period of time without incident. NEMA proposes
that the EU change the Metric Directive to permit the use of additional
units of measurement, so that producers have the flexibility to use
either metric-only or dual units on product labels, depending on
end-user needs.

Officials in Directorate General Enterprise at the European Commission,
responsible for the Directive, have made it clear that they will only
respond to a call from their Member States and from European industry to
make any changes to the Directive or its planned implementation date.
American associations and companies are encouraged to coordinate with
their European counterparts on this issue in order to increase the
likelihood that the Commission successfully revisits the issue.

So far, in Europe, ORGALIME, the European Engineering Association has
issued a call to the Commission to allow the continued use of dual
labeling. The Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) mentioned metric
labeling as an area for EU-U.S. business cooperation, and the European
business federation UNICE has also publicly supported ORGALIME\'s
position to allow business to decide the labeling issue. (See
[ORGALIME\'s](http://www.orgalime.org/Positions/positions.asp?id=228)
statement and
[UNICE\'s](http://212.3.246.117/Common/GetFile.asp?DocID=16781&logonname=guest&mfd=off)
statements on their websites).

**Products Covered by U.S. Federal and State Legislation**

Consumer products not exempted or regulated by Federal regulation will
fall under State requirements. In cases where it is not clear, please
contact the [Weights and Measures
Directors](http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/230/235/State Directors.pdf) in
the individual States.

**Federal Legislation**

The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act empowers the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue
regulations on labeling for consumer commodities under their
jurisdiction.

[FTC]{.underline}: The FTC requires each package of household consumer
commodities under its authority to bear a label with measurements listed
in both metric and imperial units. The FTC\'s regulations under FPLA do
not apply to products distributed for industrial or institutional uses.
[(See implementing
regulation](http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fpla/basis_jan1994.html))

[FDA]{.underline}: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) administers
the FPLA with respect to foods, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices
and other consumer commodities that are used or expended in the
household. For these products, the FDA also requires the use of dual
labeling. ([See the FDA
program](http://www.fda.gov/opacom/laws/fplact.htm))

[Exemptions:]{.underline} Products under the jurisdiction of the
Environmental Protection Agency, such as insecticides and fungicides,
are exempt from the FPLA. Distilled spirits and wine are regulated by
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and have
been required to be labeled in metric-only units since the early 1980s.

**State Legislation**

Consumer products not covered by superseding federal legislation will
fall under individual State requirements for labeling. The National
Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM), which is composed of
regulators from each of the 50 states, approved a proposal in July 1999
to amend the Uniform Packaging and Labeling Regulations (UPLR) to allow
\"metric-only\" labeling as an option for products regulated by the
states and not subject to the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act. The UPLR
governs consumer products controlled by the states and not covered by
Federal regulations, so the NCWM took the position that the marketplace
will be the best judge of when metric‑only labeling is appropriate. As
of today, 46 States have changed their legislation to allow the use of
metric only, while the Federal legislation remains firmly in place. (The
four states that do not yet permit metric-only labeling are Alabama,
Hawaii, New Jersey, and New York).

[The following products do not fall under FPLA jurisdiction and are
covered by State legislation]{.underline}

  ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------
  aluminum clothesline    artificial flowers and  automotive motor oil
                          parts                   and antifreeze

  automotive accessories  automotive chemical     bicycle tires and tubes
                          products (e.g., polish, 
                          wax)                    

  books                   bottled gas             brushes

  brooms and mops         candle holders          cameras

  china & crystal ware    Christmas light sets    cigarette lighters

  clothespins             clothing and wearing    compacts and mirrors
                          apparel                 

  detergent without any   decorative magnets      diaries and calendars
  drug or cosmetic claim                          

  durable articles or     fingernail files        fertilizer and
  commodities                                     fertilizer materials

  flowers, flower seeds,  fountain pens, ball     garden tools
  plants or shrubs,       point pens, pencils,    
  garden and lawn         lead refills, etc.      
  supplies                                        

  gift tape and gift      glasses and glassware   gloves
  ties, wrapping          (disposable plastic     
  materials               dishes are not          
                          excluded)               

  greeting cards          hand tools              handicraft and sewing
                                                  thread, yarn, etc.

  hardware (extension     household furnishings   ink
  cords, thumb-tacks,     (including feather and  
  hose clamps, nails,     down-filled products,   
  screws, picture         synthetic-filled bed    
  hangers, etc.)          pillows, mattress pads, 
                          quilts, comforters,     
                          decorative curtains)    

  ironing board covers    jewelry                 lambs wool dusters

  luggage                 magnetic recording tape metal pails
                          (reels, cassettes &     
                          cartridges)             

  motor oil (but not      mouse and rat traps     musical instruments
  household multipurpose                          
  oil)                                            

  paint and kindred       pet care supplies       pewterware
  products                                        

  photo albums            pictures                plastic buckets and
                                                  garbage cans

  plastic tablecloths,    polishing cloths        rubber gloves
  place mats and plastic  (unless impregnated     
  shelf linings (but not  with polish or          
  \'bug-proof shelf       chemicals)              
  linings)                                        

  safety flares           safety pins             school supplies

  self-stick protective   sewing thread and       shoelaces
  felt tabs               accessories             

  small arms ammunition   silverware, stainless   smoking pipes
                          steelware, and          
                          pewterware              

  soap bars               soap dishes             souvenirs

  sporting goods          stationery and writing  textiles
                          supplies                

  toys                    typewriter ribbons      wire products of any
                                                  type

  woodenware                                      
  ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------

**For More Information**

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) website on metric:
<http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/200/202/metric.htm>

Transcripts of last year\'s discussions with the European Commission on
the Metric Directive can be read at:
<http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/200/202/EUDirective.htm>

The U.S. Commercial Service Mission to the European Union in Brussels,
Belgium can be contacted on this issue via e-mail at:
<gwen.lyle@mail.doc.gov>, Phone: +32 2 508-2674; Fax: +32 2 513-1228.
Please visit our website at <http://buyusa.gov/europeanunion>.

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