The following is boring, but extremely important for export packaging!
1. Forms of EU regulations
The EU regulations are in the form of: Regulations, Directives, Decisions, Recommendations and advice, among which the recommendations and opinions are not binding.
The regulations introduced in this chapter are mainly directives. The directive is binding on all member states. The Directive only requires member states to achieve the goals required by the Directive, and the means and measures for implementing the Directive are left to the member states' agencies to make their own choices. The directive is issued to member states. Directives are usually issued by the European Parliament (THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT) and the Council of the European Union (THE COUNCILOF THE EUROPEAN UNION) in accordance with the responsibilities conferred by the European Community Treaty. The EU is planning to formulate a constitution, and the current treaty of the European Community is equivalent to the EU constitution.
2. The content and characteristics of EU directives
The EU directives stipulate the basic requirements and are technical regulations.
Essential requirement
The basic requirements stipulate the basic elements to protect the public interest;
The basic requirements are mandatory, and only products that meet the basic requirements can be put on the market and delivered for use;
Basic requirements mainly refer to product requirements in terms of life, environment and national security, consumer interests and energy consumption. As far as the main technical content is concerned, the EU directives are equivalent to my country's mandatory national standards. The difference is that EU directives involve taxation, stipulate the responsibilities of manufacturers, suppliers, importers and operators, and mention the obligations of consumers, etc., while my country's mandatory national standards usually do not involve these content. For the packaging of goods exported to the EU, one should first understand the basic requirements of the EU’s packaging directives:
The technical documents related to basic requirements between WTO members are mutually open. The term that can correspond to the basic requirements in our standards is: exclusive requirement;
The basic requirement is the first technical threshold for market access, and only those who cross this threshold are eligible to participate in market competition.
