EU and Poland close to completing talks on flow of goods and customs

The European Union (EU) Council is very close to completing negotiations with Poland on free flow of goods and a customs union. Poland agreed to accept EU guidelines on all potentially dangerous goods by the end of the year 2002, with the exception of medical equipment, as the poor financial condition of health care would make it impossible to replace all the equipment not meeting EU standards by that date. During the negotiations, the Polish government also agreed to make producers responsible for the consequences of the use of their goods, a major step forward in consumer rights protection. It is almost certain, say EU diplomats, that negotiations on both the flow of goods as well as customs duties will be closed during the next session at the end of March. The decision to close negotiations on customs is a significant sign of EU's confidence in the efficiency of Polish border control services, which will be guarding the EU border once Poland joins the union. (Rzeczpospolita, p.B1)