According to the regulations of the Law for the Promotion of Healthy Food, this August 20, large companies must begin to implement the Frontal Warning Labeling on their products. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have a deadline to do so until February 2023. The appearance of the stamps will be gradual and progressive.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

When did we start to see the seals?

As of this August 20, the products of large companies that have an excess of critical nutrients -such as sugars, sodium, saturated fats, total fats and calories-, must display on the main face of the container one or more warning stamps with the “EXCESS IN” badge. Also, those foods that contain sweeteners and/or caffeine, must present the precautionary legends: “CONTAINS SWEETENERS, NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN” and/or “CONTAINS CAFFEINE, AVOID IN CHILDREN”.

In this way, the central axis of the regulation that seeks to protect and guarantee the right to information in consumer relations begins to be implemented. This is the first stage of a gradual process, in which the cut-off points are made more flexible, until reaching (in a second stage) the maximum values set by the Nutrient Profile of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Tool adopted by law to classify and determine products that contain an excessive amount of critical nutrients.

In this way, the central axis of the regulation that seeks to protect and guarantee the right to information in consumer relations begins to be implemented. This is the first stage of a gradual process, in which the cut-off points are made more flexible, until reaching (in a second stage) the maximum values set by the Nutrient Profile of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Tool adopted by law to classify and determine products that contain an excessive amount of critical nutrients.

According to the PAHO profile, the products that should be classified using its criteria are processed (such as fruit in syrup, cheese, or foods preserved in brine) and ultra-processed (such as sweet or salty snacks, cookies, ice cream, candies), either which are the ones that normally contain high amounts of sugars, sodium and fats. For their part, those minimally processed or unprocessed products will not bear stamps. Examples of this are fresh fruits and vegetables, dried noodles, rice, legumes or the exceptions provided by the regulations: common sugar, vegetable oils, dried fruits and common table salt.

Now, what happens to the products that we know have an excess of critical nutrients and that on August 20 are going to continue on the shelves without their corresponding seals?

These cases, which unfortunately will not be few, must be explained in one of the following ways:

1- It can be a product made by an SME, for which the first stage begins in February 2023.

2- It may be a product from a large company that has a production date prior to August 20, which according to the law may be kept on the market until stock is exhausted.

3- Or, it may be a product of a large company, with a production date after August 20, which has obtained an extension.

This last case is the one that generates the greatest concern and uncertainty in civil society. As indicated by the Provision of the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT), the possibility of requesting an extension only exists for the first stage and only once. This deadline expired on July 20 for large companies.

For the purposes of said request, companies must declare and specify the products for which they make the order, as well as the specific reasons why they found limitations in meeting the established deadlines. In this framework, the ANMAT can resolve by approving or rejecting. If the extension request is approved, large companies have a maximum period to put the seals on their products, until February 2023.

Something important to note is that the regulations do not provide for the opening of this information, so in the face of secrecy, we decided to present a request for access to public information. Despite the efforts, the ANMAT replied that it could not provide us with these data as they are confidential. This decision, unfortunately, limits the possibility that civil society can be an active agent in monitoring the implementation of the law.

However, after our request, the ANMAT published a statement informing that as of July 27, 2,658 applications had already been received (encompassing a total of 236 companies), of which around 35% had been approved. However, the statement says nothing about: which companies requested an extension and why, on which products the extension was granted and the criteria for accepting or rejecting them.

This means that we will not know if those products that do not have seals, is because they obtained the extension or because they are in fact not complying with the norm. We need better transparency standards to be ensured throughout the implementation process.

What about the rest of the components of the law?

Meanwhile, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that the law not only introduces the system of “warning stamps” that will allow us to know what we eat. The seal is part of this standard that seeks to address the problem of healthy eating in a comprehensive and cross-cutting manner. Thus, the Law also contains provisions on: “Promotion, Advertising and Sponsorship”, “Education and Healthy Environments” and “Public Purchases”.

Let’s review each one and see why we say that the correct implementation of the seals is essential for full compliance with the standard:

• School environments

According to the regulatory decree, the Ministry of Health must coordinate with the Ministry of Education and the Federal Council of Education to include in the school curriculum minimum contents of nutritional food education and guarantee that schools are healthy spaces or free of stamps. In other words, no product with at least one warning seal or precautionary legend may be offered, marketed, promoted, advertised or sponsored in educational establishments in the country.

The corresponding regulations have not been issued on this aspect. Until now, the Ministry has only advanced in the incorporation of courses on Healthy Eating in the teacher training courses.

• Advertising, promotion and sponsorship

The labeling law prohibits the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of all those products that contain at least one (1) warning seal and that is directed especially at children and adolescents.

Likewise, it establishes that those products that contain a warning seal cannot include complementary nutritional information on their packaging, endorsement seals from scientific societies or civil associations, children’s characters, animations, celebrities, athletes, interactive elements, gifts, games, digital downloads. , etc.

According to the regulatory decree, the ANMAT has the duty to establish and dictate the complementary regulations that facilitate the implementation and control of these provisions. However, this body has not disclosed the implementation and control mechanisms that will be used to guarantee compliance with these provisions.

• Public purchases

On this aspect, the Ministry of Health must coordinate with the National Procurement Office to guarantee that the National State, given the same convenience, prioritizes contracting those products that do not have warning stamps. This provision has significant relevance. But we still do not know how this articulation will take place, nor what will be understood by “equal convenience” or “prioritizing”.

It is important to highlight that to guarantee the full application of all aspects of the law throughout the country, the work and political will of the provinces is necessary. Either for the dictation of complementary norms that are necessary, as for the control and surveillance in their territories.

More Information

• Labeling Law: we demand transparent regulation
• We have a front labeling law!

Authors

María Laura Fons

Maga Merlo Vijarra

Contact

Maga Merlo Vijarra, magamerlov@fundeps.org 

Last Tuesday, October 26, in the Chamber of Deputies, with 200 votes in favor, the sanction of the Law for the Promotion of Healthy Eating was achieved, better known as the frontal labeling law.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.

For years, in Argentina we did not know if what we ate hid any risk to our health. The increase in diseases related to poor diet (such as diabetes, hypertension and certain types of cancers), determined the need for the Argentine State to start moving forward with regulations that put the health and quality of life of the population as a priority. . After almost a year after the project left the Senate, and after several marches and countermarches, deputies were able to put aside their partisan differences, to finally approve the Front Labeling law.

This law protects three fundamental rights: health, adequate food and information in consumer relationships. For this, the regulations establish that all products packed in the absence of the customer and containing a high content of critical nutrients -such as sodium, sugar and fat- bear, on the main face of the container, black octagons with the legend “Excess in” . In this way, it is sought that simple and reliable information is available when deciding what to eat. In other words, the sale of any product is not prohibited, but rather it is intended to adequately warn of the true composition of what is being consumed.

More than a black seal

Throughout all this time, from various academic sectors and civil society, we highlight the comprehensive nature that the regulations managed to meet. This is due to the fact that, around the chosen labeling system, other regulations have been established that strengthen the protection of the right to health. These are the restrictions on advertising, promotion and sponsorship, regulations in educational establishments and in public purchases by the State.

With regard to marketing, the law requires that when a product is advertised that contains at least one warning seal, all the black octagons that this product bears are visible and / or enunciated. It only prohibits advertising when it is directed at children and adolescents and it is a product with excess fat, sugar and sodium. Given that we are in the presence of a regulation that seeks to protect children above all, the law also establishes that groceries with one or more warning stamps cannot have so-called “shopping hooks” on their packaging, such as drawings. cartoons, cartoons, famous people, athletes, etc. This is important because nothing that appears in the packaging of a product is the result of chance. On the contrary, it has been the object of analysis with the deliberate purpose of attracting the public, especially those who are in the development stage and who may not have enough knowledge to decide freely.

Regarding the educational establishments that make up the initial, primary and secondary level, the products that contain at least one warning seal or precautionary legends (“contains sweeteners, not recommended in children” or “contains caffeine, avoid in children / as ”) cannot be offered, marketed, advertised, promoted or sponsored. Likewise, in order to contribute to the development of healthy eating habits and warn about the harmful effects of an inadequate diet, the regulations also propose the development of minimum contents of nutritional food education in schools.
Finally, in relation to purchases by the State, the Public Administration must prioritize the contracting of all those products that do not have stamps. In this way, it seeks to positively impact the health of the most vulnerable sectors of the population, who are those who are most exposed to the consumption of processed and ultra-processed products.

Thus, the new law is positioned as an instrument capable of transforming the way in which the Argentine State addresses the food problem. For decades, policies have been replicated without taking into account nutritional criteria and consequently, they have not managed to reverse the chain of impoverishment or the situation of food insecurity.

What’s next

Each of the points mentioned shows that the Law for the Promotion of Healthy Eating is an advanced regulation that prioritizes public health over any other interest. It is the result of the consensus of different political forces and the best scientific evidence free of conflicts of interest.

We welcome its approval as it guarantees access to nutritious and quality food, while seeking to curb the strategies that the food industry systematically uses to promote excessive and uninformed consumption.

We took a fundamental step in terms of the protection of human rights, but the road ahead is still long. We are facing the challenge of regulation, where we know that the industry will continue to use all its machinery to protect its interests. For this reason, it is important that at this stage, each of the articles that make up the regulations continue to be protected and prioritize our rights.

Contact

Maga Merlo Vijarra,  magamerlov@fundeps.org 

Faced with the excessive delay due to the enactment of the front warning labeling law in the Chamber of Deputies, we submitted requests for information to the Anticorruption Office and the Transparency Office of the lower house in order to determine the potential existence or non-existence of conflicts of interest that could be affected to its sanction.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”

Throughout the debate on the front labeling law, it has been possible to glimpse cases of legislators who have adopted many of the narratives used by the food industry to obstruct or prevent the sanction of the regulation. For example, statements regarding the need to previously harmonize with Mercosur, the creation of technical barriers to trade, the demonization of food, the impact on jobs, among others. These arguments are characterized by being devoid of scientific evidence and lacking normative support. Well, far from being motivated by a public health interest, they are aimed at protecting the economic interests of the sector.

The bill has been in the Chamber of Deputies for almost a year and if it is not dealt with this year, it will lose parliamentary status. Faced with the questions that arise regarding the possible reasons that delay its approval, the potential existence of conflicts of interest in those who make up the Chamber, is presented as an unknown that deserves to be investigated and made visible by civil society organizations.

The Argentine legal system provides for a set of ethical principles and standards that the authorities are obliged to respect in order to guarantee that the public function is exercised in an integral and transparent manner. Among these rules, there is the regime of conflicts of interest, which establishes a series of measures and restrictions that are intended to prevent those who exercise public functions from being affected by their impartiality -or independence of criteria-, by putting their interests first. private over the public interest.

Based on this legal framework of transparency and in exercise of the right to petition the authorities, on September 6, we presented two requests for information: one, before the Anti-Corruption Office and another, before the Office of Transparency and Access to Information Public of the Chamber of Deputies of the Nation.

In this way, we request the affidavits of assets from legislators who have publicly and officially expressed themselves against the sanction of the law and which, to date, have not been published on official sites. Likewise, we request access to the list of meetings that these authorities – and their advisers – have arranged, in order to determine if there were meetings with the food industry where agreements that are affecting their impartiality have been generated, as well as the list of gifts or donations. that they may have received on the occasion or occasion of their functions.

We will continue to investigate possible avenues for complaint and urge the Anti-Corruption Office to promptly respond to the request for information submitted. The presence of conflicts of interest affects the quality of the political system and the functioning of democracies. It generates a gradual disbelief in the population about the legitimacy of public decisions and gives rise to interests outside the common good to interfere in the processes of public policy making. Making visible generates awareness in the public and is the way so that these practices are no longer legitimized.

More information

• Bill “Promotion of Healthy Eating”: refutation of arguments of the food industry

Authors

Alma Colina

Maga Merlo Vijarra 

Contact

Maga Merlo Vijarra, magamerlov@fundeps.org