Intellectual property rights and the single market: good intentions, mixed results, and worrying trends

The European Community (EC) regulatory approach to motor vehicles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and processed foods differs from the "New Approach" in a number of ways. In contrast to EC legislation establishing legal requirements for the safety of machinery or medical devices, which relies on voluntary standards to provide technical details for manufacturers, EC "Old Approach" legislation contains binding technical specifications and testing protocols which manufacturers must follow. In all 4 sectors, the EC Commission has been successful in harmonizing packaging and labelling requirements, testing protocols, and setting threshold levels for certain compounds. Exporters have raised few complaints about meeting EC technical requirements for processed foods, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and motor vehicles. However, there are potential benefits to be gained for exporters in these sectors from EC acceptance of US-generated test data, or recognition of US audits and/or laboratory inspections.