THEMATIC SESSION ON regulatory cooperation between Members: food labelling1 9 november 2016
report by the moderators to the TBT Committee
This Report was delivered by the Moderators2 of this Thematic Session of the WTO TBT Committee at the meeting of 10-11 November 2016.
_______________ At the Seventh Triennial Review, Members agreed to continue to hold thematic sessions in conjunction with regular meetings of the Committee.3 Members agreed to dedicate the 9 November 2016 thematic session on regulatory cooperation between Members to the topic of food labelling.4 The presentations summarized below, as well as audio recordings, will be made available through the WTO website.5
Panel 1 Global health objectives
This Panel was moderated by Mr George Opiyo (Uganda). The following presentations were made.
Dr. Chizuru Nishida6 and Dr. Benn McGrady7 stated that nutrition labelling is one part of a comprehensive approach and policy measures to promote healthy diet and prevent and control diet-related non-communicable diseases. Nutrition labelling may pursue three main objectives depending on domestic circumstances and other measures being implemented: (i) ensuring access to information and preventing consumer deception; (ii) enabling consumers to make healthy choices; and (iii) encouraging healthy choices and formulation of nutritious food. It was noted that unhealthy diet and poor nutrition are leading causes of the global disease burden in 2013, and that both undernutrition and obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (double burden of malnutrition) exist in the same countries, communities, households, and even in the same individuals. The WHO representatives mentioned that there is increasing recognition of the links between early childhood nutrition and development of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases later in life, highlighting the need for a lifecourse approach in addressing the prevention of non-communicable diseases later in life. The need to promote healthy diet and nutrition has gained considerable attention in the international community in recent years and the World Health Assembly requested the Codex Alimentarius Commission to give consideration to the action it may take to improve food standards and guidelines, and in this context, the representative mentioned the need to further enhance coherence between the work of Codex and WHO policies and guidelines. The World Health Assembly endorsed a number of policy documents, including the Comprehensive Implementation Plan on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (CIP-MIYCN) and Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases 2013 – 2020, which highlighted the use of nutrition labelling as a policy measure and guideline development tool for promoting healthy diet. Most recently the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity recommended implementation of a standardized global nutrient labelling system and front-of-pack labelling. The food industry, retailers, non-industry experts, non-profit organizations and government agencies were developing front-of-pack labelling to provide targeted nutrition information, assist consumers in selecting healthier foods, and to encourage healthy product development. However, it was noted, there was an increasing risk of consumer confusion due to a proliferation of different schemes and approaches. The December 2015 WHO Technical Meeting on Nutrition Labelling for Promoting Healthy Diet reviewed: (i) the front-of-pack labelling systems currently being used; (ii) their effectiveness; (iii) country experiences; and (iv) identified issues and considerations for the design and implementation of front-of-pack labelling systems in order to develop guiding principles and a guidance framework for implementing front-of-pack labelling.8 Follow-up actions include: (i) development of guiding principle and framework manual and their field-testing in countries; (ii) supporting countries developing front-of-pack labelling; and (iii) supporting the new work initiated by the Codex Committee on Food Labelling.
