AIRD asks for current law to be enforced before discussing front-of-pack labeling

The Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD) warned that, in the national market, a widespread and worrying practice persists: the sale of food without complying with basic labeling in Spanish and without having the sanitary registration required by law. This reality —which directly affects the consumer's right to receive clear information in their language— must be corrected before moving forward with the implementation of a front-of-pack labeling with nutritional warnings (EFAN), the industrial guild stated. According to the AIRD, every food product marketed in the country is required to have its label in Spanish, along with the sanitary registration issued by the competent authorities. These elements ensure that the consumer can correctly identify the content and origin of the product. However, at points of sale, there is an abundance of food with labels in other languages, incomplete, or without sanitary registration, in open violation of the current legal framework. "A solid front-of-pack labeling policy cannot be built on a foundation that is being violated. The authorities must first ensure respect for the elementary rules before opening a debate of greater technical and economic complexity," said Mario Pujols, executive vice president of the AIRD.

Diverse international experiences

The guild recalled that the application of the EFAN in other countries in the region has had mixed results. In Mexico, for example, where it has been applied since 2020, the prevalence of obesity in adults increased from 23.5% to 37.1% between 2020 and 2023, according to data from the Revista Salud Pública de México. Pujols pointed out that, globally, there is no consensus on a single format, highlighting that the United States is studying a nutritional information panel, the European Union does not apply a uniform model, while Brazil and Canada use a magnifying glass format, not octagonal. Equal rules for all The AIRD insisted that any regulations must apply without distinction to national and imported products. "What is required of the local industry must also be required of the importer. The opposite is unfair competition and is what we see today on the shelves," concluded Pujols.