Negotiating Chapter 12 – Priority for PLAC III Project
The PLAC III project provided support to the Serbian Ministry of Health in harmonisation of legislation in the area of negotiation Chapter 12 – Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy. A Draft Guidelines for the implementation of the Rulebook on nutrition and health claims made on food was presented at a workshop held in Belgrade on 10 March 2020.
The workshop brought together representatives of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, public health institutes, laboratory institutions and Sanitary Inspection. PLAC III project Key legal expert Jasna Marin outlined the project’s activities and objectives. She said the project covers 11 negotiation chapters. In the area of Chapter 12, significant support is provided for national institutions. “That’s our priority chapter – a quarter of all PLAC III workdays are allocated to Chapter 12,” she said.
Project expert Raymond O’Rourke presented the EU acquis in the field of food safety – Regulation 178/2002 on the harmonization of the food market as well as Regulation 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims. He said that there is a so-called “positive list” in the European Union, that is, the European registry that clearly defines 222 health claims. If they want additional health claims, companies have to provide scientific evidence. O’Rourke has presented Draft Guidelines for the implementation of the Rulebook on nutrition and health claims made on food. The document is intended for inspection services as well as business entities.
Adviser to the Ministry of Health Mirjana Veljković presented the national legislation – the Law on Food Safety, the Rulebook on the declaration, labeling and advertising of food, as well as the Rulebook on nutrition and health claims which are stated on the food declaration. She said that the Guidelines are fully in line with EU acquis and that the health and nutrition claims so far approved have been fully transposed into it. Creation of a Register of products with health claims is ongoing.