Under pressure from European Union officials to comply with common packaging rules, Denmark's new government announced plans Monday to remove a 20-year-old ban on selling beers and soft drinks in metal.
The Commission has threatened legal action against Denmark over the ban -- introduced on Jan. 1, 1982 -- citing an EU requirement that individual member countries cannot block the marketing of packaging that has been deemed acceptable across the 15-nation bloc.
Danish supermarket groups and beverage producers also had demanded the introduction of cans, which are cheaper and easier to produce and handle. Opponents also argued that the ban only applied to drinks containing carbon dioxide but not fruit juice and that Danes could buy canned beer in neighboring Germany, which has lower taxes on food and drinks.
But earlier governments had refused to lift the ban, claiming that it forced producers to use refillable and reusable bottles instead of metal cans that could mar the environment if not recycled.
Environment Minister Hans Christian Schmidt said the decision to lift the ban as of Jan. 23 was made because ``cans can be introduced in a responsible way with a deposit system where they are being recycled and reused.''
Consumers will pay a refundable 18 cent deposit for cans produced in Denmark. No deposit refund will be paid for cans bought outside Denmark.
The Danish Brewers' Association and the Federation of Retail Grocers will invest $30 million to adapt automatic recycling machines in some 2,000 supermarkets by June 1, said John Wagner of the grocers' federation.
The removal of the ban was the first major change undertaken by the new Liberal-led government that took office following the Nov. 20 general elections. It replaced the Social Democrats who has held power for nearly nine years.
Schmidt said he had written to inform EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem about the decision and had asked for cancellation of the case against Denmark before the European Court of Justice.
``As soon as we receive the plans from the Danish government, (Wallstroem) will start steps to stop the court action,'' Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde said at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Supermarkets and producers welcomed the decision and announced plans to adapt recycling machines to accept cans as well as glass bottles.
``It now allows our members to deliver their products in the kind of packaging that consumers want,'' said Niels Hald, a spokesman for the Danish Brewers' Association. Associated Press