EC exporter compliance with FDA standards

European Community-based companies would be required to test products in American labs to show they comply with FDA standards under a bill (HR 4473) introduced by Rep. Gejdenson (D-Conn.) April 4. Currently, European companies can prove compliance in their own laboratories. The measure is designed to "apply U.S. leverage in the product standards field to encourage greater transparency and fairness in the EC's system to establish and test compliance with European product standards," said Gejdenson, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs/International Economic Policy Subcommittee. Cosponsored by Rep. Miller (D-Wash.), HR 4473 is one of five companion bills; the others relate to products governed by EPA, Federal Communications Commission, Department of Labor and Department of Energy.