G/TBT/W/467  
21 March  2018 
(18-1708) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
EUROPEAN UNION – SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERN WITH RESPECT TO THE APPLICATION 
OF REGULATION NO. 1169/2011 AND REGULATION NO. 1925/2006 AS  REGARDS  
THE LABELLING OF FOOD PRODUCTS, IN NOT PROHIBITING  
OR EXAMINING TH E USE OF "PALM OIL FREE" LABELS  
STATEMENT BY COLOMBIA TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE  
21 AND 22  MARCH 2018  
The following communication , dated 2 0 March  2018, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Colombia. 
 
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1.  Colombia  notes that there have been  a variety of measures and campaigns, both at European 
level and within its m ember States, against the use or  consumption of palm oil in different 
products, in which palm oil is identified as harmful to health and destructive to the environment.  
2.  One of these measures involves "negative labelling" used by some companies to attract more 
consumers, where  the label highlights nutritional and health properties that the items in question 
do not posse ss (unvalidated by the competent authority) , such as, for example, the indications 
"palm oil free" or " no palm oil" promoted in the EU, for instance  through  the International Palm Oil 
Free Certification Accreditation P rogramme.  
3.  Colombia believes that t hese practices (i) stigmatize the use of palm oil ; (ii) lack scientific 
justification ; (iii) discriminate against palm oil as opposed to like products ; (iv) disregard the 
processes developed by the palm oil agro -industry under international environmental susta inability 
standards . Consequently, they constitute  disguised technical barriers that are inconsistent with the 
national treatment and MFN obliga tions in A rticle 2 .1 of the TBT Agreement and in Articles  I:1 and 
III:4 of the GATT 1994.  
4.  It seems to us that EU  Regulation No. 1169/2011 establishes the illegality of misleading claims 
on the packaging of products for human consumption . Chapter V stipulates that such labelling : 
(i) shall not mislead the consumer ; (ii) shall be ba sed on relevant scientific data ; (iii) shall be 
objective and non -discriminatory ; (iv) shall not be applied in such a way as to create obstacle s to 
the free movement of goods;  and (v) shall not lead to unfair competition . 
5.   Moreover, this Regulation  – which has been in force  since December  2014 – requires that the 
origin of the oil used as an ingredient be specified ; in other words, it is not enough simply to 
indicate "vegetable oils", but the type of oil has to be specified, for example palm oil, sunflower 
seed oil, olive oil, etc.  
6.  Similarly,  since 13 December  2016, the nutrition claim is required not to  mislead buyers as to 
the characteristics of the food . Nor can it  attribute special properties to food , such as the 
prevention of  possible health risks.  
7.  Furthermore, Article  36 in Chapter V states that food information provided on a voluntary basis 
(a) shall not mislead the consumer ; (b) shall not be ambiguous or confusing for the consumer ; 
(c) shall be based on the relevant scientific data . G/TBT/W/467  
- 2 - 
  8.   According to Regulation No. 1169/2011 , member S tates may require food business operators 
placing on the market in their territory foods bearing such information to notify the competent 
authority of the use of an additional form of expression or presentation and to provide them with 
the relevant justificat ions regarding the fulfilment of the requirements.  
9.  At the same time, Regulation No. 1925/ 2006 requires that the manufacturer or the person 
placing such foods on the market to provide the authority with "a model of the label used for the 
product".  
10.  In view of the above, Colombia  would like to know what kind of surveillance, control and 
monitoring systems the European authorities use to check the additional nutrition claims on the 
label indicating that the product is palm oil free . How can the Europea n authorities guarantee the 
accuracy  of the information provided on the l abels of products claiming to be palm oil free prior to 
their placement on the market , since there is no international reference standard by which the 
EU health authorities can verify  the presence or absence of palm oil in  the products  marketed in 
their territory ? 
11.  Colombia  would also like to know what laboratory analyses the European authorities require of 
companies to verify whether or not  products contain palm oil so that they can  approve these 
nutrition claims on food labels . What analytical method s have been validated and accredited to 
carry out thes e analyses and confirm the accuracy  of the claims ? Is there any official EU  document 
setting out the procedures for verify ing and assessing the nutrition claims  on the label ? Finally, 
what laboratory accreditation scheme does the EU use to conduct  tests to determine that the 
products are palm oil free?  
12.  All of this leads us to the conclusion that although the legislation in force is  clear in prohibiting 
information that could mislead the consumer, it permits the use of negative labelling that is 
inconsistent with the rules  governing consumer protection and unfair competition in that  it 
provides the erroneous signal that palm oil is har mful to health and destructive to the 
environment, while a t the same time  implying that unlike palm oil, other oils are health y and 
environmentally friendly.  
13.  In other words, negative labelling, rather than informing the consumer, becomes a form of 
deceptiv e advertising  devoid of any technical justification , aimed at attracting followers and 
consumers by exhibiting nutritional properties that have not been duly verified by the competent 
authorities, thereby clearly misleading the consumer.  
14.  In conclusion, Colombia  considers that the European authorities have been remiss in their 
surveillance and control in connection with the  verification and acceptance of  additional claims  that 
are being used to attribute to products special properties that have not been verified and 
scientifically substantiated, in particular the negative labelling "palm oil free" , which ultimately 
constitutes a disguise d trade restriction designed to discriminate against palm oil as opposed to 
other similar oils and has been accepted as deceptive advertising in violation of  the national 
treatment and MFN obligations contained in  Article  2.1 of the TBT Agreement and Article s I:1 and 
III:4 of the GATT 1994.  
15.  Finally, Colombia  appreciates this opportunity to make these observations, and looks for ward 
to the EU's replies to its questions.  
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