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30/01/2008
CIAA Statement on the European Commission Proposal on the provisions of food information to consumers
CIAA appreciates the recognition granted to its self-regulatory commitment, its Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA) scheme and reference values. However, we do have some serious concerns in relation to the proposed approach.
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Timing is unfortunate. The implementation of the CIAA Nutrition Labelling Scheme is making rapid progress with an increasing number of companies adopting GDAs, including some major retailers. Indeed we estimate that by 2009, the major EU manufacturers will have GDA labels on all of their products.
We understand that the European Commission does not have sufficient data to back one particular scheme and therefore leaves room for voluntary national schemes to co-exist. We fear that this approach will substantially weaken the Single Market and consequently the competitiveness of the food and drink industry. In addition a proliferation of national schemes will lead to consumer confusion rather than consumer information.
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Six nutrients front-of-pack. Consumer research shows that consumers want simple, at-a-glance information. The voluntary CIAA Nutrition Labelling scheme does just that by stipulating that energy (i.e. calories) information should be on the front of the pack as well as more detailed information to be placed on the back of the pack.
The Commission proposal tries to turn the back-of-pack into the font-of-pack by making six elements mandatory. This completely ignores the need of consumers for simple information and lacks any flexibility for smaller labels and smaller packages.
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Font size. What is suggested is not workable. We agree that legibility is a key issue for manufacturers, who want to provide clear information to consumers. But it is more than a simple question of font size. It is about providing the right information while taking account of real-life constraints, such as package size and space for branding.
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Origin labelling. The existing requirement for mandatory indication of origin fulfils its purpose and avoids that consumers are mislead and should therefore remain unchanged. When indication of origin is provided on a voluntary basis, we recommend that it is only linked to last place of processing. Adding the country of origin or place of provenance of ingredient(s) is unmanageable.
Download the full position in English
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