Notification Detail
Draft Ministerial Decree laying down the form of presentation and the conditions of use of the optional nutrition logo complementary to the nutrition declaration in accordance with Article 35 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.
Notification Number: 2020/31/I (Italy )
Date received: 27/01/2020
End of Standstill:
28/04/2020 ( 28/07/2020)
Issue of comments by:
Austria,Commission,Germany,Spain
Issue of detailed opinion by:
Belgium,France
| Message 002
Communication from the Commission - TRIS/(2020) 00354 Directive (EU) 2015/1535 Translation of the message 001 Notification: 2020/0031/I No abre el plazo - Nezahajuje odklady - Fristerne indledes ikke - Kein Fristbeginn - Viivituste perioodi ei avata - Καμμία έναρξη προθεσμίας - Does not open the delays - N'ouvre pas de délais - Non fa decorrere la mora - Neietekmē atlikšanu - Atidėjimai nepradedami - Nem nyitja meg a késéseket - Ma’ jiftaħx il-perijodi ta’ dawmien - Geen termijnbegin - Nie otwiera opóźnień - Não inicia o prazo - Neotvorí oneskorenia - Ne uvaja zamud - Määräaika ei ala tästä - Inleder ingen frist - Не се предвижда период на прекъсване - Nu deschide perioadele de stagnare - Nu deschide perioadele de stagnare. (MSG: 202000354.EN) 1. Structured Information Line MSG 002 IND 2020 0031 I EN 27-01-2020 I NOTIF 2. Member State I 3. Department Responsible MINISTERO DELLO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO Direzione generale per il mercato, la concorrenza, la tutela del consumatore e la normativa tecnica Ex Divisione XIII - Normativa tecnica 00187 Roma - Via Sallustiana, 53 tel. +39 06 4705.5368 - e-mail: ucn98.34.italia@mise.gov.it 3. Originating Department MINISTERO DELLO SVILUPPO ECONOMICO Direzione generale per la politica industriale, l'innovazione e le piccole e medie imprese Divisione VII – Industria agroalimentare, del Made in Italy e industrie creative 4. Notification Number 2020/0031/I - C60A 5. Title Draft Ministerial Decree laying down the form of presentation and the conditions of use of the optional nutrition logo complementary to the nutrition declaration in accordance with Article 35 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. 6. Products Concerned Prepacked food as defined in Article 2(2)(e) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. 7. Notification Under Another Act - Directive 2000/13/EC relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs 8. Main Content The draft Decree has been adopted in accordance with Article 35 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. Italy would like to recommend to food business operators the use of a form of expression complementary to the nutrition declaration. Operators are given the freedom to decide whether to voluntarily apply said recommended form. The form will be a logo called NutrInform Battery. The draft Decree sets out the general principles that businesses should respect when making labels. Under Article 35 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, the Commission allows Member States to adopt forms of expression on labels to facilitate understanding of the nutritional characteristics of a food. Recital No 34 of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 confirms that the nutrition information acts as a support and does not substitute specific dietary actions in the context of public health policies. Recital No 43 indicates that the additional forms of expression do not, therefore, replace the nutrition declaration, but they help to better understand its information. The aim of the additional forms of nutrition labelling laid down in Article 35 is, therefore, to simplify information related to the intake levels of these nutrients and not to compile a classification of foods based on the different composition of the latter. The purpose of the additional forms of nutritional labelling is merely informative, whereby they have an educational value and prevent the consumer from making choices that are too generalised, thus replacing and cancelling the effectiveness of specific nutrition education policies. The system identified therefore consistently supports the guidelines suggested by the European Commission High Level Group on Nutrition and Physical Activity. Among the various voluntary systems present at international level, the only one that appears to meet these criteria is that of the RI (Reference Intakes) icons, which have been developed by the European industry since 2005 (the ‘GDA icons’) with a non-directive or discriminatory approach, informing without prescribing and stimulating the cultural growth of the consumer through a simple graphic form. By using the RI as a scientific base, Italy hypothesised a kind of evolution of the current AR icons (ex GDA) through the development of a graphic form that is easier for the consumer to understand, therefore allowing them to immediately understand the extent to which the portion of food to be consumed contributes to their energy needs and other nutrients to which particular attention must be paid (fats, saturated fats, sugars and salt). 9. Brief Statement of Grounds Italian experimentation was initiated in 2018 by carrying out a survey on a sample of 1,500 consumers interviewed online. In 2019, a further one-month survey was launched on the basis of a methodological protocol developed by the Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of the Agricultural Economy [Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria, CREA] and the Italian National Institute of Health on a panel of 300 consumers divided into three groups required to fill out the Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire. The results of this further experimentation activity have shown that consumers have an interest in a labelling system that informs and educates. All the families that participated in the survey, regardless of social class, showed a strong interest. The comparison between the Italian and the French systems made it possible to detect that the battery system increases the nutritional knowledge of the study sample. The increase in nutritional knowledge in the sample examined reflects the ability of the ‘battery’ labelling to stimulate the consumer to learn more about healthy eating. The results of the experimentation therefore lead to the conclusion that a label that ‘informs’ is more accepted by the consumer, who will in turn make choices that will take into account the real physical characteristics of each consumer, thus adapting the consumption of the foods present in each different area of their diet. The voluntary system is not expected to be adopted by PDO, PGI and TSG products as such quality schemes, promoted by the European Union with Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012, are recognised by the consumer thanks to the quality label affixed thereon. Affixing a nutritional logo, albeit optional, alongside the quality label of PDO, PGI and TSG products would make them less distinctive for consumers. Taking into account the above considerations, it was deemed appropriate, proportionate and convenient to recommend the logo to the entire agri-food chain, confident that the system thus identified will not create obstacles to the free movement of goods nor affect competition between operators, as long as it is objective and non-discriminatory as expressly required in Article 35. To this end, Italy hopes that, in compliance with the principle of mutual recognition, as regards the countries where additional forms of expression and presentation of nutrition labelling are already in use, the Commission services will be able to monitor distributors so that they do not impose the use of the existing system in the country of destination. 10. Reference Documents - Basic Texts No basic text(s) available 11. Invocation of the Emergency Procedure No 12. Grounds for the Emergency - 13. Confidentiality No 14. Fiscal measures No 15. Impact assessment - 16. TBT and SPS aspects TBT aspect No - the draft has no significant impact on international trade. SPS aspect No - the draft is neither a sanitary nor phytosanitary measure ********** European Commission Contact point Directive (EU) 2015/1535 Fax: +32 229 98043 email: grow-dir2015-1535-central@ec.europa.eu |
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