Re: Position of the U.S. Government in the QUID Working Group

Dear Dr. Taylor:

The Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) is writing to express its concern over the position taken by the US Government in the Quantitative Declaration of Ingredients (QUID) Working Group.

GMA is the world’s largest association of food, beverage, and consumer product companies. With sales of more than $460 billion, GMA members employ more than 2.5 million workers in the United States. The organization applies legal, scientific, and political expertise from its member companies to vital food, nutrition, and public policy issues affecting the industry. Led by a board of 42 Chief Executive Officers, GMA speaks for food and consumer product manufacturers at the state, federal, and international levels on legislative and regulatory issues. The association also leads efforts to increase productivity, efficiency, and growth in the food, beverage, and consumer products industry. GMA Position on QUID

GMA does not support mandatory requirements or voluntary guidelines for quantitative ingredient labeling. Generally, we believe that the existing quantitative ingredient labeling provisions set forth in the Codex Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods are sufficient, and do not require further elaboration. More specifically, we believe that voluntary QUID labeling guidelines will create pressure for food processors to include the labeling under a mandatory-voluntary system. Also, GMA believes that the proposed QUID labeling guidelines are potentially violative of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) trade agreements, particularly the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) which requires that technical regulations “shall not be more trade-restrictive than necessary to fulfill a legitimate objective.” In fact, the proposed labeling does not fulfill a legitimate objective because it is merely informational in nature and does nothing to protect or advance the health or safety of consumers. Comments on U.S. Position in QUID Working Group

GMA was very concerned to learn of the U.S. government’s position on the Codex QUID labeling proposal as discussed during the recent QUID Working Group meetings. According to the Report of the Working Group, the US Delegation “prefers amending the voluntary rules (i.e., mandatory format rules only) to permit national authorities to mandate uniform formats for QUID when used voluntarily by companies.”

In particular, we are concerned about the position taken by the United States because a voluntary Codex guideline has the same legal weight under WTO agreements as a mandatory standard, thus the U.S. government’s endorsement of voluntary QUID labeling guidelines has the same practical effect as its support of mandatory labeling requirements. As discussed above, we believe that even voluntary guidelines should be opposed because they will place pressure on food processors to include QUID labeling under a voluntary-mandatory scheme. Furthermore, though such labeling is violative of the TBT Agreement, its embodiment in a Codex standard means the issue cannot then be raised before the WTO, even if it were to be used as a barrier to trade.

We thank you for your consideration of these comments in response to the position take by the United States government in the QUID Working Group. Should you have any questions or need additional information on our comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Mari Stull
Director, International Regulatory Policy
Grocery Manufacturers Association


CC: CC: E Murano M Pierson E Scarbrough R White

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