30/05/2012

The Secretary General for Health and Consumer Affairs, Pilar Farjas, today opened the Conference organised by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition, on the Consumer Information Regulation.

This conference forms part of the AESAN Plan of Activities for 2012.

Pilar Farjas, also President of AESAN, declared that one of the main objectives of the European Common Legislation is to set up the actions required to complete and modernise food legislation in the framework of the Union,in order to guarantee its more widespread application and to offer consumers greater transparency.

Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to the consumer was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 22 November.The main objective of this regulation is to guarantee consumer rights to full and fair information regarding the food that they purchase and consume, guaranteeing the protection of their health and economic interests,and allowing them to make informed decisions and permitting the safe use of food.

The original proposal for this Regulation was presented to the European Commission in January 2008. The long period of time that elapsed between the presentation of the proposal until its publication,is an indication of the difficulties and challenges posed by the consolidation and updating of the existing labelling regulations, with requirements dating as far back as 1978.It aims to provide a base for guaranteeing the highest levels of protection to consumers, and at the same time ensuring the correct working of the home market.

However these challenges do not end with the publication of the Regulation, and now producer industries and public administrations face the challenges posed by the implementation of the new food information requirements.

Representatives from the Public Administration, Industry, Consumers and the European Commission spoke at the Conference.

The Deputy Directorate of Risk Management, directed by Rosa Sanchidrián, was responsible for presenting the contents discussed

The main purpose of the conference was to diffuse the main news on food labelling resulting from the adoption of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, on food information provided to the consumer, and put forward the following objectives:

                - Identify new aspects of the regulation as regards general labelling and with respectto nutritional information.

                - Establish the opinion of consumers,manufacturers and distribution as regards thenew legal text.

                - Identify those areas subject to subsequent development.

More than 300 professionals from all the producing sectors,many of whom came from the different public administrations, attended the Conference which was held in the Salon Ernest Lluch belonging to the Ministry of Health,Social Services and Equality.

At the close of the conference, Angela López de Sá, Executive Director of AESAN, clearly stated the conclusions of the Conference, thanking those present for attending and encouraging them to continue working on the development of the implementation of this regulation.