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Tighter 'Made in Germany' rules criticised
Published: 16 Jan 12 10:55 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/money/20120116-40137.html
New rules being planned by the European Union which would limit the use of the label “Made in Germany” could cause “immense damage”, Germany’s industry lobby group warned on Monday.
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But the European Commission plans to limit claims of origin to products of which at least 45 percent of the value was created in Germany, Die Welt newspaper reported on Monday.
Current rules mean that products can be labelled as “Made in Germany” even if more than 90 percent of the work in making them takes place in other countries.
Industries such as car manufacture, electronics and machinery construction would be most affected by the planned rule changes, the paper said.
“The planned changes would put the label “Made in Germany” in danger,” Hans Heinrich Driftmann, president of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), told Die Welt.
“If in the future, the origin and value of the base materials are decisive, many products will no longer be seen as German,” he said.
This would cause immense damage to the German economy and would remove important information for consumers, he said.
“The label “Made in Germany” stands world wide for quality, and boosts German exports,” said Driftmann.
“The current rules on origin are unbureaucratic and internationally recognised – plans to change them should disappear back into a drawer. The Commission should keep its promise to reduce bureaucracy and to support mid-sized companies with internationalisation.”
Die Welt said that Algirdas Semeta, European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, audit and Anti-Fraud, drew up plans to change the rules after the European Courts of Justice ruled in favour of a German company importing rope from China.
The firm had argued it should not pay punitive tariffs on steel rope it was importing from North Korea as the material was from China, where punitive tariffs would not apply, and was only assembled in North Korea, the paper said.
The Local/hc
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Your comments about this article:
Engineered in Germany without "Made in Germany" would seem reasonable if 90% was assembled elsewhere.
Trust the EU commission to meddle with things to make it all more difficult for everyone. I suppose that they have to keep on meddling or there would be no reason for their existence.
The traditional labels might need to be changed to say "Assembled in Germany" (or wherever) and possibly "Designed in Germany." Personally I generally have some respect for items manufactured by German companies, even though some of them aren't really "owned" by Germans any more.
wa
The issue with most crap today is that its just made from cheap poor grade materials that lack any quality fit and finish.
When it comes to automobiles, there is simply no substitute for "German Engineered", no matter the country of final assembly.
It is about EU regulations regarding geographical indications. So it is not only about "Made in Germany", but also "Made in France", "Made in Bulgaria" and so on.
Being a bit of a cynic I agree with some comments who think if big business want it or opposite (whichever the case may be ) the I tend to take the opposite line.
One point why Germany not Deutschland ,and is there no German translation for made in?
It's "Made in Germany" because it was an English idea to make sure people knew the product was foreign:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Made_in_Germany
It, of course, backfired monumentally.
Thank you ,now I know.