G/TBT/GEN/185  
 
19 January 2016  
(16-0362)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original: English  
 
 NUTRITIONAL LABELLING  
STATEMENT BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION 
This document contains information provided by the WHO at the TBT Committee meeting of  
4-6 November 2015.  
 
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1.  WHO considers nutrition labelling as one of the policy options for promoting healthy diet.  
2.  The Comprehensive Implementation Plan on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition which 
was endorsed together with the 6 Global Nutrition Target 2025 by the 65th World Health Assembly 
in May 2012 stated that "Trade measures, ta xes and subsidies are an important means of 
guaranteeing access and enabling healthy dietar y choices. They can be powerful tools when 
associated with adequate information for consumers through nutrition labelling and responsible 
food marketing, and with social marketing and promotion of healthy diets and healthy lifestyles." 
3.  Implementing nutrition labelling as a policy measure for preventing and controlling obesity and 
NCDs, in accordance with international standards, in particular the Codex Alimentarius, for all pre-
packaged foods, was also highlighted by the Global  Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of 
Non-communicable Diseases 2013 – 2020 which was endorsed by the 66th World Health Assembly in May 2013.  
4.  Furthermore, the Declaration and Framewor k for Action adopted by the 2nd International 
Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) which was a high -level intergovernmental meeting that focused 
global attention on addressing malnutrition in all its forms, had also identified the use of regulatory 
and voluntary instruments, including nutrition labelling policies, to promote healthy diet as a 
recommended policy action to create enabling environment for making informed choices. 
5.  Nutrition labelling comprises 2 components – 1) nutrient declarations, and 2) supplementary 
nutrition information, which is commonly referred to  as "front-of-pack" labelling.  "Front-of-pack" 
labelling is designed to assist in interpreting nutrient declarations, which provide quantitative information, usually in small print size on the back of packages.  
6.  As noted by a number of Members in the discussions at previous TBT meetings, the Codex 
Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling (CAC/GL 2 – 1985) which was most recently revised by the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission in July 2015, provides de tailed guidance on how to implement nutrition 
labelling, particularly related to the component on nutrient declarations. These guidelines have 
been going through a series of updates and revisions during the last 10 years in response to the 
WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity  and Health adopted by the 57th World Health 
Assembly in May 2004. Among other revisions, the guidelines had expanded the list of mandatory 
nutrients to be declared (including fat, saturated fat, sodium and total sugars), and had 
established nutrient reference values (NRVs) fo r NCDs, such as saturated fat, sodium and 
potassium, in accordance with the WHO guide lines which are developed based on extensive 
evidence reviews. 
7.  The section 5 of the Codex Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling (CAC/GL 2 – 1985) provides 
guidance on "Supplementary nutrition information", which is often referred as "front-of-pack" G/TBT/GEN/185 
 
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  labelling. Unfortunately this section has not yet been reviewed and updated in the light of various 
evidence and recommendations that are now becoming available.  
8.  WHO will, therefore, be holding a technical meeting in December 2015 in order to review the 
available evidence and compile various country experiences and lessons learned in order to 
develop guiding principles and guidance framewor k for implementing "front-of-pack" labelling. 
9.  Regarding marketing, a set of recommendations on marketing food and non-alcoholic 
beverages to children was also adopted by the 63rd World Health Assembly in May 2010. It is one 
of the NCD targets and indicators, implementati on of which are being monitored and Member 
States' implementation progress will be also reported to the UN General Assembly. 
10.  Please note that this intervention is also relevant for the subsequent STCs related to nutrition 
labelling issues which will be discussed by the meeting following this STC. 
 
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