An industry view of compliance with European Community legislation.

This paper describes how from a situation within the European Community where each Member State had its own individual regulations for materials and articles in contact with food, the Community has developed a harmonized approach. The view is expressed that whilst this harmonization is desirable, the EC legislation as currently written is impractical. Flaws in the principles underlying EC controls are identified and whilst some parts of the harmonized regulations can form the basis for a workable scheme, substantial revision is needed. Proposals for improvement to the current Directives are suggested.