CIPCEL (Comité International de la Pellicule Cellulosique) was founded in 1949 and is registered in Paris, France. Initially, CIPCEL represented solely the interests of regenerated cellulose film manufacturers, before the introduction of other polymeric films—such as cast or oriented polypropylene — which have supplanted, to a large extent, the use of regenerated cellulose films in many of its traditional applications. This has resulted in the rationalisation of European regenerated cellulose film producers.

CIPCEL actively promotes the interests of the viscose products industry in terms of both consumer protection and environmental concerns.

Pure cellulose casings were first produced commercially in 1925 to complement the use of natural gut in the rapidly expanding meat industry. The manufacture of such casings was based on the discovery of cellulose dissolution by Cross, Bevan and Beadle in 1892.

For more than 80 years, cellulose casings (reinforced fibrous casings or pure cellulose casings) have increasingly replaced the use of natural gut, particularly in high volume outlets, for example, hot dogs. Moreover, further developments in highly mechanised processing methods have led to the manufacture of casings of increasingly larger diameters for products such as Mortadella.

From the outset, the fact that cellulose is regarded as a natural product and can be almost completely regenerated from the viscose solution has been advantageous both to regenerated cellulose film manufacturers and to cellulose casing manufacturers.