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Chile's Black STOP Sign for Foods High in Fat, Salt or Sugar

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Ignacio Carreño
Ignacio Carreño*
Affiliation:
FratiniVergano - European Lawyers, Brussels and Singapore, international trade and food law (http://www.fratinivergano.eu)
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Extract

On 26 June 2015, the Chilean Official Journal published Decree No. 13 of 16 April 2015 (hereinafter Decree 13/2015) amending Decree 977/1996 Reglamento sanitario de los alimentos (hereinafter, the Food Health Regulation, as it is widely referred to in English, although the correct translation would be Food Sanitary Regulation). In particular, Decree 13/2015 requires warning messages in the shape of a black octagon in the form of a STOP sign to be placed on the front-of-pack with the text ‘High in…’ when food products exceed certain levels of energy, sodium, sugars or saturated fats. Although novel in the food sector, Chile's measure is part of a trend of public policies aimed at tackling lifestyle risks by conveying certain information to the public. While warning messages that reduce the visual appeal of the packaging of products are ubiquitous in the tobacco sector, these types of messages are now also gradually being extended to the alcohol and food sectors.

Type
Reports
Information
European Journal of Risk Regulation , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , December 2015 , pp. 622 - 628
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015

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References

1 Decreto No. 13 de 16 Abril 2015 que modifica Decreto Supremo No. 977, de 1966, Reglamento Sanitario de los Alimentos, Diario Oficial de la Republica de Chile, 26 de Junio de 2015, I No 41.193.

2 Alberto Alemanno, “Health warnings on junk food”, 25 March 2013, available on the Internet at: http://albertoalemanno.eu/articles/health-warnings-on-junk-food (last accessed on 23 October 2015).

3 Ley No. 20,606 of 6 June 2012, published on 6 July 2012, Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile, Legislacion Chilena, available on the Internet at: http://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1041570&idVersion=2012-07-06 (last accessed on 23 October 2015).

4 For more background, see Pilar Rodríguez, “La guerra entre Salud y el área económica del gabinete por el etiquetado de los alimentos”, 20 November 2014, available on the Internet at: http://ciperchile.cl/2014/11/20/la-guerra-entre-salud-y-el-area-economica-del-gabinete-por-el-etiquetado-de-los-alimentos/ (last accessed on 23 October 2015).

5 Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile, “Historia de la Ley N° 20.606 Sobre Composición Nutricional de los Alimentos y su Publicidad”, 12 October 2011, p. 233, 281.

6 Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - Chile - Food for human consumption, G/TBT/N/CHL/219, 16 January 2013 [note that the document has been cancelled].

7 Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Minutes of the meeting of 6 - 7 March 2013, WTO Doc. G/TBT/M/59.

8 Idem.

9 Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Minutes of the meeting of 30 - 31 October 2013, WTO Doc. G/TBT/M/59.

10 Diario Oficial de la Republica de Chile, 17 de Diciembre de 2013, I No 40.734.

11 Decrees of 14 May 2014, published on 14 June 2014.

12 See the text of the proposal on http://www.barrerascomerciales.es/paises.aspx?doc=1096 (last accessed on 23 October 2015).

13 Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Notification - Chile - Food for human consumption, WTO Doc. G/TBT/N/CHL/282, 22 August 2014.

14 See trade barriers website of the Spanish Government: “Límites de nutrientes y etiquetado de alimentos no acordes con estándares internacionales”, País: Chile, Última actualización: 21 de julio de 2015. Available on the Internet at: http://www.barrerascomerciales.es/Fichas.aspx?ver=2013/0002 (last accessed on 23 October 2015).

15 Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Minutes of the meeting of 5 - 6 November 2014, WTO Doc. G/TBT/M/64, and Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Minutes of the meeting of 18 - 19 March 2015, WTO Doc. G/TBT/M/65.

16 Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Minutes of the meeting of 17 - 18 June 2015, WTO Doc. G/TBT/M/66.

17 Ibid.

18 Decreto No. 13/2015 que modifica el Decreto Supremo No. 977, de 1966, Reglamento Sanitario de los Alimentos, Diario Oficial de la Republica de Chile, 16 de abril de 2015, I No 41.193.

19 Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, 1868 U.N.T.S. 120, Art. 2.9.

20 Appellate Body Report, United States – Measures Concerning the Importation, Marketing and Sale of Tuna and Tuna Products, WT/DS381/AB/R, circulated 16 May 2012.

21 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization, “Codex Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling”, CAC/GL 2-1985, p. 2.

22 Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization, “Codex Guidelines for Use of Nutrition and Health Claims”, CAC/GL 23-1997.

23 Codex Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling, Supra n 21.

24 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “Codex General Guidelines on Claims”, CAC/GL 1-1979, p. 1.

25 Ibid.

26 Ignacio Carreño, “The European Commission Considers the UK Traffic Light Nutrition-Labelling Scheme as Voluntary Nutritional Information and Not as a ‘Non-Beneficial’ Nutrition Claim”, EJRR 1/2014, p. 61(63).

27 Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade - Minutes of the meeting of 5 - 6 November 2014, WTO Doc. G/TBT/M/64.

28 Proyecto que modifica la ley N° 20.606 y el Código Sanitario, con el propósito de reducir el porcentaje de grasas saturadas, azúcares y sodio permitido en los alimentos, limitando su consumo y publicidad, 12 de Noviembre 2014, Boletin No. 9723-11.

29 Ibid.

30 Proyecto de Ley 7 de mayo de 2015 que modifica la ley N° 20.606, sobre Composición Nutricional de los Alimentos y su Publicidad, para exigir un etiquetado especial en el caso de los alimentos genéticamente modificados.

31 Russ Blinch, “Latin America leads the fight against junk food with the US on the sidelines,” The Guardian, 17 February 2014 (modified on 3 June 2014), available on the Internet at: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/food-blog/latin-america-junk-food-us-sugar-tax-obesity (last accessed on 23 October 2015).

32 Katy Steinmetz, “San Francisco Approves Warning Label for Sugary Drink Ads”, time.com, 9 June 2015, available on the Internet at: http://time.com/3915485/san-francisco-soda-warning-label/ (last accessed on 23 October 2015).

33 American Beverage Association, California Retailers Association, California State Outdoor Advertising Association; vs The City and County of San Francisco. Case No. 3:15-cv-03415-EMC.