WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/1087 
7 June 2011 
 (11-2810) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
  
 
 
REGULATION 258/97 OF THE E UROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND 
OF THE COUNCIL CONCERNING NOVEL FOODS 
 
Communication from Peru 
   The following communication, received on 1 June 2011, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Peru. 
 
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 1. Peru once again raises before the WTO Membership its trade concern regarding 
Regulation 258/97 of the European Parliament  and of the Council concerning novel foods and 
novel food ingredients.  Unfortunately, the review of this instrument did not culminate in any 
amendment of its content, which continues to restri ct entry to the European market of a number of 
foods and food ingredients (termed "novel foods") th at were not marketed in the European Union 
before 15 May 1997. 
2. Thanks to policies to promote food exports and to international cooperation efforts, including 
on the part of member States of the European Union,  native foods of traditional use in Peru have seen 
their trade potential grow significantly in the p ast few decades.  High-potential Peruvian products 
such as camu camu ( Myrciaria dubia )
1, yacón ( Smellanthus sonchifolins ), sacha inchi ( Plukenetia 
volubilis ) and other Amazonian fruits and their by-p roducts are now being imported into major 
markets such as Japan and the United States. 
3. Peru's concern is that the implementation of  the Regulation on novel foods is directly 
affecting trade in the traditional products deriving from our mega-biodiversity, blocking their entry to 
the European Union market.  These products are an  illustration of the sustainable use made of our 
biodiversity through free and safe trade - principles to which Peru subscribes the belief that trade, 
sanitary and phytosanitary protection and biodiversity can and must be mutually supportive components of sustainable development. 
                                                      
1 Camu camu, a traditional Amazonian product, has a high ascorbic acid content (2780 mg of 
Vitamin C per 100 g. of pulp).  It is an effective antioxidant for human health and is rich in Vitamin C 
(containing 56 times more than the lemon).  In 2010, exports to the United States and Japanese markets 
amounted to more than US$ FOB 254,000 and 111,000, respectively, largely in the form of pulp.  In May 2005, the Development Centre for the Competiveness of the Amazon (CEDECAM) obtained organic certification for 
camu camu from the firm SKAL International in the context of the project "Comprehensive programme for the 
rational use of camu camu in selected basins of the Loreto region", implemented by CEDECAM with support from the European Union, Agro Acción Alemana  (German AgroAction), CESVI Italy and Hivos Netherlands.  
In the period from 2008 to 2010, with financial support from the Spanish International Development 
Cooperation Agency (AECID), the Ministry of Agricultu re carried out a project to grow organic camu camu in 
Loreto for export.  The product is now grown and exported with organic certification from the Peruvian 
Amazon. G/SPS/GEN/1087 
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  4. Implementation of the Regulation is affecting the export potential of traditional products such 
as camu camu, yacón and sacha inchi.   The chart below, which shows exports of camu camu, yacón 
and sacha inchi worldwide excluding the European  Union for the period 2005-2010, reveals a 
significant level of trade in these products in other markets. 
Chart 
 
 
 Source:  PROMPERU.  Produced by:  MINCETUR. 
 
5. Although Peru acknowledges that Members have th e right to protect consumer health, it is 
also aware that there must be proper justification for any measures imposed.  This is not the case with 
Regulation 258/97, which, in practice, is an unwarra nted barrier to trade since it discriminates against 
traditional products:  (i) because there was no significant marketing of these products in Europe prior 
to a totally arbitrary date (May 1997), despite a long history of safe human consumption in their 
country of origin and elsewhere;  and (ii) becau se of the costly scientific studies required and the 
lengthy process for approving entry into the Europ ean market of products treated as novel foods. 
6. Furthermore, the Regulation draws no distincti on between foods and ingredients that are new 
in the strict sense, i.e. that have not been consum ed anywhere in the world, and those that are new 
only the European Union.  For the most part, traditional products, most of which come from 
developing countries, fall in the latter category. 
7. Peru wishes to express its concern at the inco mpatibility between Regul ation 258/97 and the 
principles and obligations laid down in the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures, particularly Articles 2.2, 5.1, 5.4 and 5.6 and Annex C to the Agreement.  
That Agreement requires Members to ensure th at any SPS measures they apply are not more 
trade-restrictive than required to achieve an appropr iate level of protection.  It follows that the 
measures applied by the European Union are unneces sary and excessive in that they equate products 
that are new in the strict sense with products that have a history of safe consumption in other markets 
and so present no risk whatsoever for human health, as is the case of traditional foods. 
8. Implementation of the Regulation also has adver se social effects such as disincentives to the 
development of promising economic activities, in creased cultivation of illicit crops for economic 
ends, failure to contribute to improving the health of the world as a whole through the consumption of  G/SPS/GEN/1087 
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  traditional foods with a high nutritional value, and a decline in the income of the poorest sectors of the 
population. 
9. In view of the foregoing, and the rules and pr inciples laid down in the SPS Agreement, Peru 
reiterates its request to the European Union not to  include traditional products in the novel foods 
category, and deems that a distinction needs to be  drawn between foods and ingredients that are new 
in the strict sense and those that are new only to the European Union.  Peru accordingly proposes 
excluding from the scope of Regulation 258/97 tr aditional products that have a history of safe 
consumption in the country of origin and other parts of the world excluding the European Union, thus 
facilitating their entry to the European community market, so that their importation from developing 
countries is not unduly affected. 
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