G/TBT/W/715  
 
4 March 2020  
(20-1709) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
MEXICO - DRAFT AMEND MENT TO MEXICAN OFFI CIAL STANDARD  
NOM -051-SCFI/SSA1 -2010: GENERAL SPECIFIC ATIONS FOR  
THE LABELLING OF PRE -PACKED FOOD AND  
NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERA GES 
STATEMENT BY THE EUROPEAN UNION TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE  
26 – 27 FEBRUARY  2020 
The following communication, dated 2 March  2020, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the European Union . 
 
_______________  
 
 
1.  The European Union would like to thank Mexico for the opportunity to sen d written comments on 
the notification G/TBT/N/MEX/178/A dd.9 Draft Amendment to Mexican Official Standard NOM -051-
SCFI/SSA1 -2010: General specifications for the labelling of pre -packed food and non -alcoholic 
beverages.  
2.  The European Union would like to summarise its concerns expressed in the written comments.  
3.  Accor ding to its section 1, the notified draft aims to establish the commercial and health 
information that must be contained in the labelling of the prepacked domestic or foreign products 
marketed on the national territory, as well as to determine the characte ristics of such information 
and to establish a system of front -of-pack labelling for the general population, in order to inform the 
consumers clearly and truthfully of the content of critical nutrients presenting health risks in 
excessive consumption.  
4.  The definition of "dietary fibre " mentioning "three or more monomeric units " is not fully in line 
with the definition in section 2 of the Codex Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling mentioning "ten or 
more monomeric units ". Therefore, the EU proposes to bring the definition in line with the Codex 
guidelines.  
5.  Furthermore, section 4 of the notified draft provides specific requirements concerning the 
indication of sugars in the list of ingredients. These requirements do not provide the same flexibility 
as set out in t he Codex General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods (CXS 1 -1985). The 
sugar content is also indicated in the mandatory nutrition declaration required by the notified draft. 
The EU would suggest that Mexico maintains the flexibility provided fo r in the Codex standard to list 
the ingredients in descending order of weight, without introducing further specific requirements for 
the indication of sugars in the list of ingredients.  
6.  The notified draft also provides that substitute products must add the  statement "SUBSTITUTE 
PRODUCT " to the upper left of the main surface of the label.  
7.  In the EU, a different approach has been taken to ensure that the consumers are properly 
informed, while at the same time leaving a certain flexibility for the operators. R egulation (EU) 
No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers1 requires that "In the case of foods 
 
1 https://eur -lex.europa.eu/legal -content/EN/TXT/?qid=1576075844891&uri=CELEX:02011R1169 -
20180101  
 G/TBT/W/715  
 
- 2 - 
 
  in which a component or ingredient that consumers expect to be normally used or naturally present 
has been substituted with a different compo nent or ingredient, the labelling shall bear – in addition 
to the list of ingredients – a clear indication of the component or the ingredient that has been used 
for the partial or whole substitution: (a) in close proximity to the name of the product; and ( b) using 
a font size which has an x -height of at least 75 % of the x -height of the name of the product and 
which is not smaller than the minimum font size required in Article 13(2) of this Regulation. " 
8.  The EU would like to ask Mexico to align the nutrients to be declared to the Codex Guidelines on 
Nutrition Labelling. The Codex guidelines does not foresee the mandatory declaration of added 
sugars, trans fat and dietary fibre.  
9.  With regard to the proposed  mandatory requirement to indicate the added sugars content on the 
label, and the proposed definition of "added sugars ", the EU would like to invite Mexico to provide 
clarification regarding the rationale for this mandatory requirement and for choosing thi s definition.  
10.  With regard to the proposed mandatory requirement to indicate the trans fat content on the 
label, please be informed that the EU does not impose such indication in the nutrition declaration. 
Instead, establishing a legal upper limit for the c ontent of industrial trans fat in food appears to be 
the most effective measure in terms of public health and consumer protection. Therefore, in the EU, 
Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/649 lays down maximum limits for the content of trans fat in 
food. The content of trans fat, other than trans  fat naturally occurring in fat of animal origin, in food 
intended for the final consumer and food intended for supply to retail, shall not exceed 2 grams per 
100 grams of fat.  
11.  The notified draft sets out a mandatory f ront-of-pack nutrition labelling system indicating that 
the products are in "Excess" of certain nutrients for prepacked foods whose content of energy, 
sugars, saturated fats, trans fats and sodium exceed certain parameters. The EU recognises the 
importance  of the close relationship between diet and health and acknowledges that providing the 
most important elements of the nutrition information front -of-pack can be a useful tool for 
consumers to assist them to see the essential nutrition information when purc hasing foods.  
12.  Notwithstanding this, the EU has taken a different approach to empower consumers to make 
informed choices when adopting Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information 
to consumers, which came fully into application at the e nd of 2016. This Regulation imposes an 
obligation to provide nutrition information. However, its placing on the front -of-pack is not 
prescribed. In order not to confuse consumers, Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 clarifies which 
particulars of the nutrition de claration may be repeated on the front -of-pack (on a voluntary basis), 
either the energy value alone or the energy value together with the amounts of fat, saturates, sugars 
and the sodium content expressed as salt.  
13.  Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 notes the re cent developments through the use of graphical 
forms or symbols and acknowledges that such additional forms of expression and presentation may 
help consumers to better understand the nutrition declaration and allows for different forms to be 
developed on t he basis of criteria established in the Regulation itself. Among these criteria are the 
requirements that the additional forms are based on sound and scientifically valid consumer research 
and do not mislead the consumer; that they aim to facilitate consum er understanding of the 
contribution or importance of the food to the energy and nutrient content of a diet; that they are 
supported by scientifically valid evidence of understanding of such forms of expression or 
presentation by the average consumer; and that they are objective and non -discriminatory.  
14.  The EU considers that individual warnings such as "Excess calories", "Excess sugars ", "Excess 
saturated fats ", "Excess trans fats " and "Excess sodium " do not reflect the objective of front -of-pack 
nutrition labelling as described in Section 5 of the Codex Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling, i.e. "to 
increase the consumer's understanding of the nutritional value of their food and to assist in 
interpreting  the nutrient declaration ". Indeed, such individual warnings do not allow the consumer 
to understand the complete nutritional status of the food product, but only to draw the consumer's 
attention to (a) single nutrient(s) in high quantity.  
15.  In this context , the EU would like to recall Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement, which states that: 
"Members shall ensure that technical regulations are not prepared, adopted or applied with a view 
to or with the effect of creating unnecessary obstacles to international tr ade. For this purpose, G/TBT/W/715  
 
- 3 - 
 
  technical regulations shall not be more trade restrictive than necessary to fulfil a legitimate objective, 
taking account of the risks non -fulfilment would create ". 
16.  The EU would also like to recall Article 2.4 of the TBT Agreement wh ich states that, "where 
technical regulations are required and relevant international standards exist or their completion is 
imminent, Members shall use them, or the relevant parts of them, as a basis for their technical 
regulations".  
17.  While it is the EU's understanding that the proposed measure would apply without difference to 
domestic and foreign producers, the impact will be particularly strong for foreign operators, which 
would have to adjust their production and labelling practices to comply with the d raft resolution.  
18.  At the 44th session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL44) of October 2017, the 
Committee agreed to start new work to develop guidelines on the use of front -of-pack nutrition 
labelling. Work is ongoing under the leadership of Co sta Rica and New Zealand. The EU considers 
that it would be more appropriate for Mexico to await the outcome of further discussions in Codex 
before considering the mandatory front -of-pack nutrition labelling model proposed in the notified 
draft.  
__________