Welcome to this edition of the CIAA Newsletter!

The last few months have been particularly busy for the food and drink industry: CIAA is focusing on numerous important dossiers ranging from input into the work of the High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the EU Agri-Food industry, developments within the framework of the Food Information Package and the recent launch of the Food Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Round Table, to name but a few.

The context is one of constructive deliberate change within the organization itself; as we roll out our new governance rules we are delighted to welcome our new President, Jesús Serafín Pérez, who was elected in July this year. Mr Pérez, a trained economist and chartered accountant, has been active in the food and beverage industry for over 30 years. He is also CIAA’s first-ever President to come from an SME. Mr Pérez will lead a small Board of “CEOs only” composition, representing quite a dramatic change in the governance of the Confederation.

Regarding the High Level Group (HLG) on the Competitiveness of the EU Agri-Food Industry, CIAA welcomes the Recommendations and the Roadmap and accompanying actions that have now been adopted. CIAA members are following closely the implementation of this Roadmap and accompanying actions and are committed to play an active and direct role, taking ownership of those relevant to EU food and drink manufacturers.  

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) released its first set of Opinions on the scientific merits of generic health claims on 1 October. This welcome development represents an important step in the direction of a harmonized, Community-wide list of such claims. Consumers have the right to scientifically validated information in order to make healthier food choices, and industry needs a scientifically agreed set of claims in order to have certainty about which products can make claims across the European market. CIAA looks forward to the next step in the process, where Member States and the European Commission agree on a common list of accepted claims.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the new MEPs on their election to the European Parliament for the 2009-2014 legislative term. CIAA has highlighted a number of the key challenges facing our sector, and we call on MEPs to help keep the competitiveness of the EU agri-food industry high on the EU political agenda. We very much look forward to a constructive dialogue on the many agri-food issues with the new Parliament in the future.

Bonne lecture!

Mella Frewen
Director General