. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/N/USA/48
17 July 2003
(03-3877)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English
NOTIFICATION
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   UNITED STATES
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):           
2. Agency responsible:   Food and Drug Administration (48)
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:           
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [    ], 5.6.2 [    ], 5.7.1 [    ], other:           
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   Trans fatty acids
(ICS 67)
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   “Food Labeling:
Trans Fatty Acids in Nutrition Labeling; Consumer Research to Consider Nutrient Content
Claims and Health Claims and Possible Footnote  or Disclosure Statements”;  (3 pages, in
English)
6. Description of content:   FDA issuing an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to solicit
information and data that potentially could be used to establish nutrient content claims abouttrans fatty acids; to establish qualifying criteria for trans fat in current nutrient content
claims for saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, lean and extra lean claims, and health claims
that contain a message about cholesterol-raising lipids; and to establish disclosure and
disqualifying criteria to help consumers make heart-healthy food choices.  The agency is
also requesting comments on whether it should consider statements about trans fat, either
alone or in combination with saturated fat and cholesterol, as a footnote in the Nutrition
Facts panel or as a disclosure statement in conjunction with claims to enhance consumers’understanding about such cholesterol-raising lipids.  Information and data obtained from
comments will be used to help draft a proposed rule that would establish criteria for certain
nutrient content or health claims or require the use of a footnote, or other labelling
approach, about one or more cholesterol-raising lipids in the Nutrition Facts panel.
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:
To understand its relative significance in the context of a total daily diet.
8. Relevant documents:   68 Federal Register (FR) 41506 11 July 2003; Title 21 Code of
Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 101.  Will appear in the Federal Register when adopted.
9. Proposed date of adoption:
Proposed date of entry into force: }To be determinedG/TBT/N/USA/48
Page 2
10. Final date for comments:   9 October 2003
Submit written comments on the document to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-
305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville, MD
20852, U.S.A. It is possible to submit electronic comments to:
http://www.fda.gov/dockets/ecomments .  Submit comments by indicating DOCKET
No. 03N-0076 and Title of document “Food Labeling: Trans Fatty Acids in Nutrition
Labeling; Consumer Research to Consider Nutr ient Content Claims and Health Claims and
Possible Footnote or Disclosure Statements”
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ X] or address, telephone and fax
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:  or Dr. Julie
Schrimpf, FDA-CFSAN, HFS-800, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740.
Complete text can be found on the Internet at
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/oc/ohrms/index.cfm  and looking under DOCKET
No. 03N-0076.