FOR YOUR INFORMATION
We share below a number of recent developments. As always, we rely on FIVS Members to apprise us of noteworthy matters. Please contact the FIVS Secretariat with items that may be of interest.
Labelling
European Union: Support for front-of-pack nutrition labelling – The European Commission has reportedly asked the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to provide scientific advice to support the development of a future EU-wide system for mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labelling. EFSA’s advice will also inform the setting of nutrient profiles and health claims on foods. EFSA intends to consult the public on its draft by the end of 2021 and to deliver its opinion by March 2021; the European Commission intends to submit its proposal by the end of 2022.
- European Union: Lobbying Brussels on wine labelling – The Comité Européen des Entreprises Vins (CEEV) is advocating for standardizing labelling of wine sold in the European Union. The CEEV is asking the EU to approve two new labels – an abbreviated version of the standard nutritional information labels, showing only calories, as well as a QR code label that would lead to ingredient information on the website of wineries. It expects the Commission may adopt regulations during the summer of 2021, which would be required for all wines released onto the market in Europe by the end of 2022.
- Global: Calls for nutrition labelling for alcohol – Many experts are reportedly pressing for mandatory calorie labelling on alcohol beverages in order to curb excessive consumption and to help fight obesity. This author argues that the alcohol beverage industry has been given a free pass with calorie and nutritional labelling compared with other food and beverages throughout the world.
- United Kingdom: Labelling calorie content of alcohol – An analysis of 18 studies in Obesity Reviews reportedly found moderate evidence that people were unaware of the calorie content of alcohol beverages and that people support labelling – but the analysis found no evidence that labelling affected consumption levels. The lead author indicated, however, that calorie labelling of alcohol beverages would be a good first step to be taken by the UK government to address obesity and might encourage the alcohol beverage industry to reduce calories in its products.
Cancer
European Union: Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan – The European Commission has reportedly earmarked €4 billion for its Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan – a new approach to cancer prevention, treatment, and care, involving four action areas, ten initiatives, and multiple supporting actions. The first of the four action areas, prevention, will address key risk factors such as tobacco (with the aim to ensure that less than 5% of Europe’s population uses tobacco by 2040), harmful alcohol consumption, environmental pollution, and hazardous substances. The plan refers to alcohol-related harm as a major public health concern and says that cancer caused 29% of alcohol-attributable deaths in 2019. The Commission will increase support for implementation of activities in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including a relative reduction of at least 10% in the harmful use of alcohol by 2025. The Commission also intends to:
- review EU legislation on the taxation of alcohol and on cross-border purchases of alcohol by private individuals;
- monitor the implementation of the Audiovisual Media Service Directive provisions on commercial communications for alcohol beverages, including on online video-sharing platforms, to reduce the exposure of young people to alcohol marketing;
- review its promotion policy on alcoholic beverages; and
- propose a mandatory indication of the list of ingredients and the nutrition declaration on alcohol beverage labels before the end of 2022 and of health warnings on labels before the end 2023.
You may wish to read the CEEV’s views on this matter.
Trade
United Kingdom: Joining the Asia-Pacific free trade bloc? – The United Kingdom is formally seeking to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which represents 11 Pacific Rim nations including Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, and Vietnam. The UK Secretary of State for International Trade has said the deal would mean lower tariffs for car manufacturers and whisky producers. Negotiations are expected to begin this year, but the opposition Labour party has urged that meaningful public consultation take place first, as it questions the lack of transparency surrounding the pact.
Meetings
May 2021 webinar on digitalisation in legal metrology – The International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) and the National Metrology Institute of Germany (PTB) will host a webinar on digital transformation in legal metrology on 05 May 2021. The one-day webinar – which will be free to all interested parties and will not require prior registration – will explore contemporary challenges, opportunities, and solutions regarding digitalisation in legal metrology. The most recent version of the program and more information about the event can be found HERE.
December 2020 webinar on wine & DLT – A virtual webinar – attended by more than 100 participants from 25 countries – discussed opportunities and challenges arising from the application of distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) and blockchain in the agri-food supply chain. Some supply chains in the agri-food sectors extending across borders and regulatory systems offer interesting areas of application for this technology – including for seeds, wine, and the security of animal health. The capability to store significant volumes of data in a secure, distributed infrastructure, without any single central point of failure, offers opportunities to fight counterfeiting and enhance transparency. The webinar was jointly organised by the following organisations, some of which provided presentations: the Italian Permanent Delegation to the OECD, the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE), and the OECD Agricultural Codes and Schemes, in cooperation with the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM).