Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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141. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the introduction of a voluntary colour coded nutritional labelling scheme for food products in France; the impact this will have on food exports; and the status of EU level discussions on countries that have introduced similar labelling schemes and the potential issues arising. [48632/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers (FIC) came into effect in December 2014. It is now the main regulation governing the labelling of foods. It introduced a requirement to provide nutrition labelling on pre-packaged foods - that is a declaration of the energy value, and the amounts of fat, saturates, carbohydrate, sugars, protein and salt contained in such products.

The regulation also provides that EU Member States can recommend the use within their own territory of a voluntary scheme which provides for additional forms of expression or presentation of nutrition information for specified nutrients, once the proposed scheme meets certain criteria.

The French Nutri-Score system is one such voluntary national scheme. Given that it is a voluntary scheme, there is no obligation that products from Ireland which are sent to France should conform to this scheme. Moreover, it is a requirement of the FIC Regulation that the application of such a scheme must not create obstacles to the free movement of goods within the EU. The UK has introduced a similar voluntary scheme - the Colour Codes Guideline Daily Amount (GGDA). Any demand for products made in Ireland to be labelled in accordance with such schemes can only arise from business specifications which form an integral part of commerce.

I have been informed by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) that it has been reported in the media that voluntary schemes have not met with universal acceptance by the food industry within the individual Member States where they were introduced.

This Government's National Obesity Policy Action Plan, A Healthy Weight for Ireland 2016-2025 contains policy action 2.3, "Review EU consumer information labelling of food products and with a view to its application in the Irish market". The Department’s Health and Wellbeing Unit is leading on this action plan and will consider this in due course.

The application of the FIC rules is usually discussed within an expert working group convened by the European Commission. I have been advised by the FSAI that any complaints about the details or operation of any voluntary scheme are normally dealt with on a bilateral basis by the European Commission and the relevant Member State.