The European Food Summit Brussels, 11-12 April 2002

Kraft Foods is a leading branded food and beverage company with sales in 149 countries around the world. Our brands are the symbol to our consumers of our promise of safety and quality, which are foremost priorities at Kraft.

We employ extensive control systems to ensure safety and quality from product design through our supply chain to our consumers. While food safety is a core food industry responsibility, government shares an important and complimentary role.

A focused and effective science-based regulatory system is an essential element in fulfilling that government role. Beyond food safety, consumers consider and weigh a wide range of other factors when making decisions about which products best meet their unique needs and lifestyles.

Kraft listens to and talks with millions of consumers to understand their needs, and we bring innovation to the challenge of meeting those needs. Government can best serve consumers by focusing on objective regulation of meaningful risks, communicating clearly with the public about risk in a reasoned and effective way, and - importantly - maintaining a marketplace that allows innovation to flourish.

For food, that means such things as harmonized and flexible standards to support Europe-wide commerce; appropriate and timely approval of food products and ingredients; and ensuring the freedom to communicate truthfully and effectively with consumers about food products through advertising, labels and other means.