The rules for food companies and producers, on the management of food allergens, were approved. These rules can be adopted by the legislation of each country and thus harmonize the requirements of trading partners.
The standards, which will apply to cereals containing gluten, crustaceans and their products, eggs and egg products, fish and fishery products, peanuts, soybeans and their products, milk and milk products, and nuts and their derivatives, were approved by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC43), the body responsible for all actions related to the implementation of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme and which focus on protecting the health of consumers and ensuring fair practices in their marketing, reported the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC).
As of October this year, the U.S. country will begin one of the phases of implementation of the new front labeling on food and non-alcoholic beverages, under the Labeling Law NOM-051 of the Ministry of Health.
One of the arguments that support the amendments to the Standard is the situation of health and welfare of citizens in the country. According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT) 2018 (to date, the latest report released), 35.6% of children between 5 and 11 years old are overweight and obese. Meanwhile, children and young people between 12 and 19 years old report 38.4%, according to the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport).
A bill has been submitted to the Assembly to create a compulsory system of classification of carcasses and nomenclature of beef cuts.
The bill, which was presented by the Minister of Agricultural Development (Mida), seeks to create beef cuts, in addition to protecting and guaranteeing information on beef cuts purchased by consumers, the Assembly reported.
Exporters are preparing for the new regulation that will be implemented from 2020 in the U.S. market, among which is the application of a new table of nutritional data in packaged products.
Representatives of the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport) reported that both U.S. and foreign companies exporting to the U.S., must comply with new food labeling standards.
Changes in product labeling and greater regulation in the licensing process are some of the provisions approved by the National Assembly of Panama.
Cigarette packages marketed in the country must comply with simple packaging, brand name, health warnings and other characteristics, are some of the approved changes.
Companies in the region can submit their applications for new labels according to the new Central American Regulation on Pesticide Labeling until December 20, 2020.
The regulation amendment came into force at the end of 2018, and stipulates that after the authorities approve the changes to product labeling, companies will have one more year to exhaust the existence of previous labels in the market.
On December 28th, 2018, companies which import air conditioning equipment in Panama will have to comply with new energy efficiency standards.
The Representatives of the National Secretariat of Energy (SNE) said that as part of the new regulation, air conditioners, central type, window, inverter and split should have a special label, in Spanish language.
Starting June 2018 packaged products sold in the South American country must have a label warning about the high contents of sugars, sodium, saturated fats and calories.
In Guatemala, food industry businessmen are opposed to five bills that would change the rules on labeling and increase the tax on sugary drinks.
According to the Guatemalan Chamber of Food and Beverages (CGAB), bills that aim to increase VAT from 12% to 20% on sugary drinks and change the labeling rules, are based on misinformation.
A new law approved by the National Assembly establishes the obligatory use of labels indicating whether or not a product is of local origin.
From a statement issued by from the National Assembly:
As a measure of protection for national products and so that consumers can recognize whether the product they are buying is imported or not, a bill was approved in a third debate, Bill 531, which establishes the mandatory use of labels that indicate whether the product is or of national origin or not.
Arguing that the labeling does not really reflect the content of the product, the Panamanian government has suspended the entry of evaporated milk from the Pura Vida brand, from Grupo Gloria from Peru.
The decision was taken by the Panamanian Food Authority (Aupsa) after the National Association of Cattlemen reported that the market was trading imported milk that was sold as evaporated milk"...
Edible commodities such as fruits and vegetables are increasingly being used as natural dyes in food manufacturing processes.
From a report by PROCOMER in Costa Rica:
The call for transparency and clarity of the ingredients is becoming stronger and stronger, with the industry responding with more clean-label formulas with natural alternatives.Several studies have shown that most consumers believe it is increasingly important that the food or drinks they consume only contain natural ingredients.In order to ensure that the products concerned meet their expectations, 66% of buyers around the world will take time to critically look at the information that appears on the back of the product packaging.
As of December 13 all processed and packaged food and beverages to be sold in the European Union must include detailed nutritional information.
From a statement issued by PROCOMER:
In 2014 in the European Union, the European Regulation on Information and Food Labelling (Regulation 1169/2011) came into force.The standard improves labeling on all products in order to provide useful, readable and understandable information to consumers.
Companies that export food to the South American country must include a special label to identify products containing GMOs or which are derived from them.
The regulations of the decree signed in 2015 state that the deadline is 2018 so as to incorporate gradually, the new yellow label indicating if the food product contains any ingredients that have been genetically modified (GMO).
As of June 27, 2016 packaged products must have a label warning about the high levels of sugar, sodium, saturated fat and calories.
The new regulation also states that if the content of sugars, sodium, saturated fat and calories exceed the limits established by the new legislation, producers must label the container with a black symbol with white letters.
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