What: The European Commission has recently published its Inception Impact Assessment on the proposal for a revision of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers.

Why: As part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission adopted the Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system. This Farm to Fork Strategy announced that the European Commission will take a number of actions, including the following:

- a proposal for introducing a harmonised mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labelling

- the setting of ‘nutrient profiles’ restricting promotion (via nutrition and health claims on food labels) of foods which are high in fat, sugar and salt

- consider proposing the extension of mandatory origin or provenance indications to certain products

- revise the current EU rules on date marking (‘use-by’ and ‘best before’) to reduce food waste

The objective of this inception impact assessment is to follow-up on these announcements via a revision of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers. It aims to inform citizens and stakeholders about the European Commission’s plans allowing for the provision of feedback on the intended initiative and to allow for effective participation in future consultation activities.

The European Commission welcomes views and comments at this time. It also intends publishing a 12-week consultation at a later date, along with a number of other targeted consultations, to gather views and feedback in view of further developing and fine-tuning the different labelling initiatives. A synopsis report will be completed by the European Commission summarising results of all activities.

All interested parties are invited to provide views on the European Commission’s understanding of the problem and possible solutions, and to make available any relevant information that they may have, including on possible impacts of the different options.

How: To read the Inception Impact Assessment and also to provide feedback directly to the European Commission, you can access these on its website.

When: Feedback is welcomed by the European Commission by 3rd February 2021.