SAVE OUR BRITISH PINT!

30 January 2006

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is today calling on MPs to save our British pint after the threat of new legislation from the European Commission (EC) that will see us buy our milk in litres rather than the traditional measure of pints customers are happy with.

Over the past three years the EC has allowed for national variations amongst EU member states, however, now it is calling on all 25 member states to provide certain pre-packed products in specified quantities.

If the changes in legislation go ahead, this means consumers who purchase what looks like a pint of milk may in fact only be buying 500 millilitres of milk, 64 millilitres less than purchasing the traditional pint.

BRC Director of Food & Consumer Policy, Andrew Opie, says:  “This legislation is just another example of unnecessary legislation the European Commission is trying to impose on member states.

“Feedback from retailers is that consumers are happy with the current pint measurement and would not want to see changes in this area.  As far as many are concerned, this is just needless changes to legislation.”

“If the EC can make allowances for buying beer in pints, why can’t they extend this to milk?  We should stay with the current status quo of allowing nominal variations amongst member states.

The legislation is due to be voted on by MEPs in the European Parliament next Thursday (2 February 2006) and the BRC has been sending letters to UK MPs to ask them to support the call to save the British pint.