Top Editors ... Minister applauds industry achievements

Title: Minister applauds industry achievements
Date: 12/04/2007
Autor: Food and Beverage International

At the 5th Congress of the CIAA. held in Brussels in October, Markos Kyprianou. the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, praised the 'visible and important' contribution that has been made by the food industry to the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.
"I welcome and appreciate the encouraging progresa that the Platform has made to date. Members have activety engaged with the process and firm commitments have been made," said Mr Kyprianou. "I am very pleased to see the initiatives brought forward by the CIAA and its members in areas of key concern, such as advertising and marketing, nutrition labelling and reformulation.
"The issue of effective monitoring of commitments is of vital importance for the overall credibility of the Platform process," Mr Kyprianou continued. "In September, Platform members adopted a framework for the monitoring of their commitments and I appreciate the extensive efforts made by the CIAA in this regard."
Mr Kyprianou pointed out that the Platform is just one element of the required multi-faceted approach that is necessary, and that other areas where the Commission is active include facilitating information exchange between Member States, and improving regulation. This, he said, led to the decision to start work on a European strategy on nutrition.
“We launched a public consultation n December 2005 through a Commission Green Paper to give stakeholders across Europe the opportunity to express ther views on the strategy that Europe should adopt for combating overweight, obesity, and then to preventall related diseases. I am delighted to say that the response level was very good. Nearly 300 contributions were received from national and local governments, civil society, industry, academia and individual citizens," said Mr Kytpianou. "The consultation is one of the many sources of information we will draw on, as we start to put together the elements of an EU Strategy to be adopted in the course of 2007.

Mandatory nutrition labelling?
He then turned to the subject of nutrition labelling, "At present, nutrition labelling only becomes compulsory when a nutrition claim is made in the labelling, presentation or advertising of a foodstuff. But many stakeholders believe that nutrition labelling should become mandatory, in view of helping to combat obesity," he said. "However, such views need to be considerad alongside research which indicates that whilst most consumere are keen to have nutrition labels, the majority of consumers do not actually make full use of them.
"The situation has become more complex in recent years with the development, by governments and industry of front of pack schemes. My view is that these schemes, such as 'signposting', should be in conformity with existing labelling legislation, and should not contradict or undermine efforts to improve current EU rules," said Mr Kyprianou. Responses to a recent consultation on this theme, which closed at the end of June, will be used towards developing proposals for revising the general food and nutrition labelling legislation. This new legislation will not only be an update but also a 'user friendly recast' of the current texts. We aim to adopt proposals in 2007."
Mr Kypnanou concluded: "I would like to express my gratitude for both the interest and the application that CIAA members have shown towards the Platform process. The future and the success of the Platform depends, of course, on the effectiveness of its actions. Your contributions will be critical in that respect. Commitments must be fulfilled. If the Platform succeeds by proving that it can meet its objectives, it should become an integral part of the European strategy on nutrition." http://www.eumpa.eu

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