G/TBT/W/577  
4 December  2018 
(18-7646) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
EUROPEAN UNION - APPLICATION OF REGULATI ON NO. 1169/2011 AND  REGULATION 
(EC) NO. 1924/2006 A S REGARDS  THE LABELLING OF FO OD PRODUCTS, IN NOT 
PROHIBITING OR EXAMI NING THE USE OF "PAL M OIL FREE" LABELS  
STATEMENT BY COLOMBIA TO THE COMMITTEE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE  
14 AND 15 NOVEMBER  2018 
The following communication , dated 3 December  2018, is being c irculated at the request of the 
delegation of Colombia. 
 
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1.  Colombia  reiterates its concern, already raised in document G/TBT/W/467 , regarding the  
measures and campaigns, both at European level and within its m ember States, against the use o r 
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" of certain products , where  the label 
highlights nutritional and he alth properties that the items in question do not possess  (unvalidated 
by the competent authority) , such as, for example, the indications "palm oil free" or " no palm oil" 
promoted in the EU .  
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 sustainability 
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 establish es 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.  At the same time, Regulation No. 1925/ 2006 requires that the manufacturer or the person placing 
such food s on the market to provide the authority with "a model of the label used for the product".  
6.  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 nutr ition claims on the label 
indicating that the product is palm oil free . How can the European 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 ? 
7.  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 G/TBT/W/577  
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  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.  
8.  Colombia  appreciates this opportunity to make these observations , and looks forward to the 
EU's replies to its questions.  
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