17:38 Sep 2, 2010 

I am glad I could help.
Thank you for the offer but since you found the right word yourself (by the way, it's nice to learn a new word), I don't think it would really be deserved.
Maybe we should petition ProZ.com so they make a device allowing the asker to award points to members who posted discussion entries, though. Just one point, nothing extravagant. ;-)

17:27 Sep 2, 2010 

Thank you Sandra, that's incredibly helpful.
I've done a bit of googling and it seems that 'lien plat' is 'strapping' and the term used in the newspaper-bundling (?) industry is 'cross-strapped'.
I never would have got there without your help. If you want to submit that as an answer I'll be more than happy to award you the points.

16:58 Sep 2, 2010 

I think you have to deal with "lien plat", "double" and "croisé" separately. "Lien plat" seems to be these strong plastic ribbons you find around magazines when they are sent by post. And I interpret "croisé" in this context as meaning that the "lien plat" is arranged around the parcel in the same way you'd use to gift wrap christmas presents, ie arranging the ribbon around the rectangular parcel to make it look like an England flag.
Er, I am not sure this was very helpful but, I've done my best ;-)