Mercosur Reviews Regulations for General and Nutrition Labelling

After many years of discussion, Mercosur has issued two draft Resolutions aimed at reviewing and introducing changes to the regulations on the general labelling of pre-packaged foods and the nutrition labelling of pre-packaged foods.

Some of the proposed changes to the general labelling of pre-packaged foods include: a revised scope of the regulation; new definitions; updated specifications for presenting mandatory information – including a revised format for declaring the list of ingredients; and new conditions for small packages and exceptions.

The nutrition labelling of pre-packaged foods draft proposes the following changes: a revised scope – covering raw materials and exemptions; new definitions – including one for added sugars and front-of-pack (FOP) labelling; the addition of total sugars and added sugars to the mandatory nutrient declaration; new conversion factors for polyols and fibres; and revised NRV and RDI, among others. It is important to note that the draft includes a proposal to develop a separate regulation for FOP labelling.