Welcome to the first CIAA Newsletter of 2009!

As we reach the end of the first quarter, CIAA is focusing on a wide range of dossiers of key importance to Europe’s food and drink industry.  These include: the work of the High Level Group on the Competitiveness of the Agro-food Industry, the Food Information Package, the launch of the Food ‘Sustainable Consumption and Production’ (SCP) Roundtable and the revision of the Novel Foods Regulation.

On 17 March, members of the High Level Group (HLG) on the Competitiveness of the EU Agro-food industries adopted a Report and a list of 30 Recommendations to improve the sector's competitiveness.  The HLG also agreed to adopt a detailed Roadmap, complete with actions required to accomplish the Recommendations. CIAA welcomes this decision and will work with the Commission services to prepare this Roadmap before the summer. Indeed, only through the effective implementation of the HLG recommendations can the competitiveness of the EU food and drink industry be effectively strengthened.

Concerning the Food Information Proposal, the Parliament recently decided to postpone discussions until after the European elections in June and CIAA looks forward to re-engaging with MEPs as soon as possible.

One of the key issues here concerns legibility on the label. The CIAA has recently developed industry-wide recommendations and guidelines for best practices, providing not only a more proportionate, but also a more flexible tool to the proposed 3mm font size suggested by the Commission.

In parallel, CIAA members continue to roll out our industry-wide voluntary scheme to provide better nutrition information to consumers via the GDA labelling scheme(1). Moreover, some CIAA members have adopted additional GDAs for other nutrients (Omega 3, Omega 6 and Poly and Monounsaturated fatty acids) to complement the system. Through implementation of the GDA scheme, CIAA members are well prepared to meet their commitments made within the EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, set up under the aegis of DG Sanco.  For further information, log onto: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_determinants/life_style/nutrition/platform/platform_en.htm.

In the context of the environment, we are delighted to announce that CIAA has united with major stakeholders across the whole food chain to launch a Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) Roundtable.  The initiative will seek to promote the environmental sustainability of the food chain and establish scientifically reliable, uniform assessment methodologies for measuring environmental sustainability.

The Roundtable will constitute a major food sector-wide contribution to the EU’s ambitions in the field of sustainable consumption and production, bringing together farmers and suppliers, agricultural traders, food and drink producers, packaging suppliers, recovery organisations and civil society representatives. In addition, the support of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Environment Agency (EEA) is particularly welcomed.

Meanwhile, the industry has been closely monitoring developments under the revision of the Novel Foods Regulation.  We believe any revision should seek to stimulate the innovative capacity of the industry and provide a streamlined, predictable approval process for the marketing of novel foods and ingredients.  To this end, CIAA welcomes a number of elements adopted by the European Parliament on 25 March in its first reading on the proposal, notably with regards to adequate data protection provisions and recognition that simplified procedures can benefit smaller companies through better access to innovation.

Finally, let me take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very happy Easter.

Bonne lecture!

Mella Frewen
Director General

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(1) For a detailed explanation on the GDA scheme and how it works, please consult our website at: http://gda.ciaa.eu/asp2/index.asp