. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/W/298 
4 November 2008 
 
 (08-5351) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   Spanish 
  
 
SPECIFIC TRADE CONCERNS RELATING TO ACCESS OF FOODS 
TO THE EUROPEAN UNION MARKET 
 
Communication from Colombia
 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 3 November 2008, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Colombia
. 
 
_______________ 
 
 1. Colombia thanks the European Community fo r the responses to the concerns it raised on 
14 July 2008 with regard to the proposal for a "R egulation of the European Parliament and of the 
Council on novel foods and amendi ng Regulation (EC) No. X/X [common procedure]", notified by 
the World Trade Organization on 14 March 2008 in document G/TBT/N/EEC/188, as well as the 
extension of the final date for comments relati ng to the novel foods draft to 14 July 2008. 
2. Colombia's comments in the mentioned document focused on elements such as: 
(a) The definition of a novel food; 
(b) restriction on the inclusion of a novel food in the Community list; 
(c) lack of clarity regarding the party inter ested in placing a novel food on the market; 
(d) clarification of the terms "name of the f ood", "composition", and "country of origin". 
3. The replies, which were general and did speci fically address Colombia's comments, have not 
dispelled the concerns as to the real risk in relation to the security of novel foods, nor do they 
substantiate the justification for authorizati on, supervision, labellin g and use of novel foods. 
4. Colombia recognizes the importance of incorporatin g, in the draft regulation, the concept of 
"traditional food from a third country", but is wary of the definition of that concept.  The proposed 
definition, according to which a traditional food is one which has been "part of the normal diet for at 
least one generation in a large part of the population", can lead to serious restrictions, since the diet in 
a particular country, far from being homogenous, varies significantly according to regional customs 
and traditions and to the country's topography:  the food produced and eaten in the mountains is 
different from the food produced and eaten on the co ast.  The definition should therefore recognize 
the regional character of traditional foods. 
5. Colombia also stresses the importance of estab lishing precisely the period covered by one 
generation, and suggests 20 years.  Here, Colombia would ask that the notifications come not only 
from commercial operators, but that governments and producer's associations also be included, and G/TBT/W/298 
Page 2  
 
  that the five-year protection of test data be treated as part of the legislation on intellectual property 
and not of the health regula tions governing novel foods. 
6. As a producer and exporter of food and raw ma terials for food, Colombia has a significant 
trade interest in this matter;  it is worth mentioni ng that Colombian exports to the European Union in 
2008 have amounted to more than US$960 million.  Measures such as those proposed or announced 
by the European Community must not therefore constitute unnecessary technical obstacles to trade 
which would significantly affect our food export potential. 
7. Colombia believes that this legislative amendm ent should facilitate trade by making room for 
the development of trade in traditional products, an area which is increasingly important for our 
economy in that it forms part of the government progr amme to revive exports, to diversify its export 
supply and to take advantage of th e growing consumer interest in h ealthy and novel foods.  Moreover, 
in most cases these traditional products are cultiv ated using environmenta lly friendly production 
systems, an aspect which is appreciat ed in today's globalized world. 
8. Colombia considers that some of the proposed measures could be contrary to the rights and 
obligations set forth in the WTO Agreement on Tec hnical Barriers to Trade, in particular those 
pertaining to the use of international standards as  a basis for technical regulations:  indeed, the 
definition of novel food does not correspond to any inte rnational definitions, and there are no apparent 
technical reasons for deviating from them. 
9. Accordingly, Colombia asks the European Co mmunities to ensure that the regulation which 
we hope will shortly be adopted take full account of the specificity of a traditional product from a 
third country which it classifies as a novel food.  Colombia insists that the procedure for placing a 
traditional product from a third country on the European market should be streamlined and 
accelerated, whatever the formula chosen by the Parliament and the European Council. 
__________