Packaging firms feel boxed in by Europe

Medium-sized packaging companies will "go to the wall" within 10 years unless the regulatory burden on businesses is cut, warned one of the world's leading packaging executives.

John Durston, deputy chief executive of Amcor Flexibles Europe, told the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Packaging Manufacturing Industry that the UK was an increasingly unattractive place for his line of business.

While health and safety regulations were important, he said, the UK authorities were particularly good at "gold-plating whatever comes out of Brussels", which was unfair since it was practically impossible to monitor production practices in the rest of the world for packaged goods brought into Europe. "So we are not playing on a level playing field."

He claimed that civil servants in some other countries were likely to be less assiduous in checking compliance with new European Union regulations on chemicals.

Flexible packaging labour costs per hour in the UK were also roughly £20, compared with £12 in the US and less than 60p in India and China. The cost of transporting packaging half way across the globe did not outweigh the savings in labour costs, said Durston. "It is not difficult to transport flexible packaging over long distances because it is high-value material. One pallet might weigh 750kg and be worth £4,000."

Durston added: "We are also paying too much for our energy in the UK because of the failure of the European market to open up to competition."