G/TBT/W/429  
19 January 2016  
(16-0370)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: Spanish  
 
  PERU - LAW TO PROMOTE HEALTHY EATING AMONG CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS 
STATEMENT BY MEXICO TO THE COMMITT EE ON TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE 
4-6 NOVEMBER 2015 
The following communication, dated 15 January 2016, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Mexico. 
 
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  1.  On this occasion, Mexico once again presents its trade concern with regard to Law No. 30021, 
"Law to Promote Healthy Eating among Children and Adolescents", published on 17 May 2013 in 
the Official Journal El Peruano . This concern was first presented to this Committee in June 2014, 
and has been reiterated on subsequent occasion s. This matter has also been the subject of 
bilateral dialogue with Peru. Peru has indicated that the statute that would implement the Law has 
not yet been issued, and we would therefore like to  know first and foremost the current status of 
its preparation. Without prejudice to the foregoing, we would like to reiterate Mexico's concerns 
regarding the Law, which are the following: 
2.  Mexico acknowledges the right of the Peruvian Government to safeguard its legitimate 
interests, in this case, protecting its population from chronic, non-communicable diseases. It must be pointed out, however, that all public policies must have a scientific basis or be in accordance 
with international parameters in order to fulfil international commitments. 
3.  Law No. 30021 has technical regulation characteristics as provided for in Annex 1 to the 
TBT Agreement, and it is considered that the Government of Peru failed to comply with the 
transparency obligation set forth in Article 2.9 of  the TBT Agreement, which prevented Mexico and 
other WTO Members from being able to issue comments for consideration in the course of its preparation. 
4.  It is considered that Peru may be contravening principles of the TBT Agreement, specifically the 
need to base technical regulations on international standards, as stipulated in Article 2.4 of the TBT Agreement, since the provisions of the Law are not based on the Codex Alimentarius General 
Guidelines on Claims (CAC/GL 1-1979, point 3.5). 
5.  As mentioned with respect to the labelling measure adopted by Chile, Mexico considers that 
every food has inherent nutritional characteristics, as each person has different nutritional needs, and no food can therefore be characterized as "good" or "bad" in relation to its nutritional content. 
Therefore, the provisions of the Law, specifically the provision relating to the label "HIGH", could 
arouse fear in consumers by leading them to a ssume that non-transmissible diseases such as 
obesity are caused by the consumption of specific foods. 
6.  The Codex Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling state that the label "should not lead consumers to 
believe that there is exact quantitative knowledge  of what individuals should eat in order to 
maintain health, but rather to convey an understan ding of the quantity of nutrients contained in 
the product", given that a "more exact quantitative delineation for individuals is not valid because 
there is no meaningful way in which knowledge about individual requirements can be used in 
labelling". G/TBT/W/429 
- 2 - 
  7.  Mexico therefore respectfully requests Peru: 
a. To share with us an update on the current status of the preparation of the measures that 
will implement the provisions on labelling contained in Law No. 30021. Also, in preparing these measures, to provide for a time-frame in which to receive and consider comments 
from the various Members. 
b. To offer an explanation of the scientific and technical evidence supporting the use 
of labels bearing the term "HIGH" in the light of the legitimate objective pursued 
by the Law. 
 
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