Agencies worldwide are toughening regulations on packaging. TT Club’s TT Talk newsletter cites the following examples:

· Case-ready pallet displays are becoming a prominent marketing tactic in the United States. The Department of Agriculture’s new wood packaging material regulations require that wooden materials, such as pallets and crates, which are going to a U.S. destination carry a “legible and permanent mark indicating the wood has been treated with heat or methyl bromide to kill insects that may have been present.

www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/

· In Spain, new regulations enable authorities to detain containers either missing the Container Safety Convention (CSC) plate or bearing a defective CSC plate. Products may be transferred to another container, but the original container will be detained at port until the defects have been eliminated.

Engaging consumers who resist online buying

If you're a "dot .com" retailer or if online retailing is in your marketing mix, the need to leverage packaging to win the trust of consumers and build equity online may never be more important than now. It could even mean your survival or failure as an Internet marketer.

These observations come to light as eMarketer reports that more than 33% of U.S. Internet users, ages 14 and older, do not buy online.

The primary reason? Even though online shopping has been growing rapidly for several years, these holdouts still cite concerns about security and privacy of personal information.

www.indeco-spain.com/circulares.htm