Safety fears played down over plans to change condom sizes

Date: 25/10/01

By Peter Chapman

EUROPEAN standards experts are set to ditch the tough EU norm for condoms in favour of a less rigid new global standard for the contraceptive.

However, experts insist this will not result in reduced safety levels for condoms, sold increasingly as a protection against AIDS.

Bill Potter, consultant for the Brussels-based European Standards Committee (CEN), said the changes would give companies far more scope to meet the needs of different markets.

It would also help them to sell their products across the world without having to worry about potential conflicts with local norms. "The new standard would allow condom makers to make different-sized condoms to satisfy local needs," explained Potter, adding that many of the features of the EU norm would be retained by the global standard expected to get the go-ahead from the Geneva-based International Standardisation Organisation early next year.

Currently the EU benchmark allows companies only to sell condoms between 88 and 112mm circumference. These limits will be ditched, allowing firms to produce bigger condoms. Potter, a former R & D director for the company which makes Durex, said there "was unlikely to be demand" for condoms below the current 88mm limit.

There may be concern, however, that the new standard will not feature EU specifications for extra strong condoms - mainly used by the gay community.

Instead, companies will be expected to provide laboratory evidence to show that condoms aimed at the gay market were indeed stronger than other types.

He said the global standard would guarantee that sell-by dates on condoms were safe. This is a particular issue in countries with high humidity - for example in Southeast Asia - where condoms deteriorate faster.

SSL International, the company that owns the best-selling Durex brand, said condom experts were meeting this week in Mexico to put finishing touches to the draft norm before it is voted on by national standards bodies later this year.

But SSL researcher Suren Solanki said it was too early to predict how the new norm would affect the Durex product line-up. "SSL plays a key role in the setting of high standards for the quality of condoms, and at this week's meeting, is the convenor of two working groups within the committee. The meeting will be attended by government agencies from different countries, non-governmental organisations, condom manufacturers, opinion formers and experts within the field," he added.

Durex is the world's leading condom brand, holding a 22 per cent share of the global condom market and is sold in more than 140 countries worldwide.

European standards experts are set to ditch the tough EU norm for condoms in favour of a less rigid new global standard for the contraceptive.