It was filed at the Bolivian Senate the Draft Law on Front-of-pack Labelling of food and non-alcoholic beverages. The text proposes the following:
- To warn about excess sugars, sodium, saturated fat, total fat and calories.
- Black octagonal warning stamps with a white border and white lettering.
- Warning phrase “EXCESS IN…” for the above nutrients.
- Warning phrase “CONTAINS SWEETENERS, NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN”.
- Warning phrase “CONTAINS CAFFEINE. AVOID FOR CHILDREN”.
- Although nutrient profiles are mentioned, these are not specified in the regulation. Therefore, it could be considered during the discussion of the project to include those of PAHO, or to leave it to the Ministry of Health to develop national nutrient profiles.
- Restrictions on the use of claims on products displaying any of the warning phrases on the front panel.
- Marketing restrictions on labelling (use of characters, images, etc.).
- Restrictions on advertising.
- So far, the products that would be exempted are common sugar, vegetable oils, nuts and common table salt. There is no mention of food supplements or foods for special diets. The current Law on front-of-pack labelling approved in Bolivia does not impact those categories.
- 60 days for the issuing of the corresponding regulation and 6 months for the entry into force of the Law and its regulation.
The draft is in an initial phase and could be subject to modifications during its discussion.
It is worth remembering that in Bolivia there is already a law on front-of-pack labelling approved in 2016 (Law N°775), but it was never implemented because its regulations were never published.
