§ Lord Brougham and Vauxasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the outcome of the Council of Ministers (Consumer Affairs) held on 30 March.
The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Earl Ferrers)I represented the United Kingdom at the Council.
Political agreement with unanimity was reached on a common position text of the draft directive on distance selling. When the directive is implemented, and subject to certain exemptions, suppliers of goods or services which are sold at a distance will be required to provide certain information and consumers will enjoy a seven-day cooling off period.
Political agreement by a qualified majority was also reached on a proposal to amend the Food Labelling 16WA Directive 79/112. This proposal includes the introduction of quantitative ingredient labelling: that is, labelling of the quantity as well as the presence of the ingredients in a food. It also specifies that food labelling should generally be in the official local language. Alcoholic drinks are excluded from the requirement for ingredient listing.
The Commission announced that it hoped to bring forward proposals to the Council in June following up the Green Papers on access to justice and on consumer guarantees.
The Commission is consulting internally on a proposal to postpone the introduction for period of four years of an obligation to unit price products which are not sold in prescribed quantities. The Commission also gave a progress report on the draft directive on cross-border payments.
A proposal to introduce Community rules on the quality standards for articles of precious metals was referred to the Committee of Permanent Representatives for further consideration.