• CHALLENGE: The US Trade Representative (USTR) is challenging before the World Trade Organization (WTO), Mexico’s new regulation mandating front-of-package nutrition labeling on processed foods and beverages, arguing that it needs to be postponed for at least 2 years.
• OBESITY: Last year, Mexico’s Congress passed legal changes mandating front-of-package nutrition labeling on food high in sugar, sodium, saturated fat and calories, aimed at curbing the country’s obesity and overweight crisis. The Mexican government has until late April to draft the regulation.
• CONCERN: “It is worrying that the proposed regulation aimed at addressing public health may be more restrictive to trade than it is necessary to meet Mexico’s legitimate objective”, said USTR in a document presented to the WTO’s technical barriers to trade committee.
• CONTEXT: US export foods and non-alcoholic beverages total an average of USD 5.8 billion annually. However, the US request for Mexico to postpone for two years the implementation period of its regulation goes beyond the WTO’s committee’s recommendation of 6 months.
