Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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WTO News Item, 16 November 2018
The following extracts from the WTO news item are for new concerns relating to food products. For the full News Item, see TBT – 16 November 2018 .
Chile — Description and labelling of milk products deriving from milk
The EU and US expressed concern with Chile's draft law which does not allow cheeses made from powdered milk or recombined/reconstituted milk to be labelled as "cheese", but to be labelled differently. According to the EU, this is not in line with the Codex General Standard for Cheese, CODEX STAN 283-1978. The EU said that changing labels specifically for the Chilean market would put an unnecessary burden on industries and could adversely impact trade.
Chile said the draft law is under debate in its parliament. Chile said it would keep members informed of any updates through the notification process.
Brazil – Standards of wine and derivates of grapes and wine products.
The EU expressed concerns with an amended regulation on identity and quality standards for wines. According to the EU, this regulation may cause future disruptions of EU wine exports to Brazil due to differences with standards adopted by the Paris-based International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV). The EU invited Brazil to consider the recommendations of the OIV when preparing its regulations on wine and to accept imported wine made according to OIV-authorized practices.
Brazil said its legislation was developed in accordance the provisions of the TBT Agreement, and that several opportunities for comment were provided. According to Brazil, comments received from the EU in the development of the measure were mostly taken on board in its final version. Brazil said that OIV standards were used as a basis for developing the measure, except when these standards were ineffective or inappropriate for the fulfilment of the legitimate objectives of the measure. Brazilian authorities also gave a 360-day transition period to allow industry time to adapt.
Egypt – Halal requirements for poultry parts and offal
The US said that its exporters of poultry parts and offal are unable to access the Egyptian market, despite demonstrated assurance that they comply with Egypt's Halal and food safety standards.
Egypt responded that it is trying to strike a balance between verifying the compliance of imported goods with Halal requirements, and ensuring this does not impose excessive trade burdens on its partners. Egypt said that its authorities are facing difficulties in verifying the compliance of poultry parts with Halal requirements, including identifying the source of all imported parts and the sourcing partners. In this context, Egypt is limiting the importation to whole poultry that fully compliance with Halal requirements in order to protect consumers.
