Directive 87/357/EEC on Food-imitating Products applies to items, such as cosmetics and liquid household products, which are not edible, but because of their shape, smell, colour, appearance, wrapping, labelling or size, might appear to be so. Key points of the directive includes: 

• EU countries must:

  a. take all necessary measures to ban the sale, import, export and manufacture of the products covered by the legislation;

  b. check that such dangerous products are not being sold on their territory;

  c. take off the market any products being sold and inform the European Commission of the product and the reason for the decision.

• The Commission must inform all other EU governments of the decision as quickly as possible.

• By 26 June 1989 and on the basis of a Commission report on implementation of the legislation, EU governments had to decide whether the directive should be extended to cover other dangerous products.