Proposed regulation on food information for consumers
The European Commission issued a proposal for a new Food Information Regulation on 4 February 2008. This proposal follows an EU-wide review of both general food and nutrition labelling legislation, which began in 2004.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has been representing the UK at Experts' Group meetings during the development of this proposal. Interested parties letters providing summaries of these meetings can be found at the links below.
The proposal will bring EU rules on general and nutrition labelling together into a single regulation which will simplify and consolidate existing labelling legislation. Eventually the regulation will be directly applicable in all Member States, and replace current UK law.
The adoption and publication of the proposal is the first step in the development of the regulation. Not only does the regulation have to be agreed between the 27 members of the Council but the European Parliament has to approve the text.
The FSA will represent the UK during the negotiations in the European Council, which are expected to start later this year, and will be actively engaging with stakeholders across the UK.
The FSA Board will consider the proposal in May 2008 and the UK position will then be agreed in discussion between Government Departments in Westminster and between the FSA and departments in the devolved administrations.
This is a complex process and we will be using this webpage to update stakeholders as progress is made in the negotiations on the proposal.
Technical issues
The Commission is also separately taking forward the amendment of Council Directive 90/496/EEC on the nutrition labelling of foodstuffs. The Commission plan to revise the list of vitamins and minerals and their recommended daily allowances (RDAs), update energy conversion factors and include a definition for fibre. For relevant papers on this work area see links in the see also' section below.
Related links
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Find out more
FSA Wales Stakeholder event on Commission Proposal on Food Information: 2 April 2008
Meeting at the MRC Centre, Llandrindod Wells
Proposal for a new regulation on the provision of food information to consumers: note of consultation launch meeting
The Food Standards Agency hosted a meeting for stakeholders on 15 February 2008, to launch the Agency’s formal consultation on the Commission’s labelling proposal. This was an opportunity for about 100 stakeholders to receive information and give initial views.
Scottish stakeholder forum on providing food information to consumers: 12 March 2008
The Food Standards Agency in Scotland (FSAS) held a stakeholder forum in Edinburgh on the 12 March 2008. The forum provided an opportunity for the 21 attendees to receive information on the purpose and content of the Commission proposal, to facilitate open discussion and to provide their initial views.