1 Adapted from the Report of the FAO Expert Consultation on Integration of Consumer Interests in Food Control. For copies of the full report, write to the Food Policy and Nutrition Division.
Background
Objectives of the consultation
Issues addressed
Recommendations of the consultation
References
From its very beginning in 1945, FAO has assisted in the improvement of standards applied to food and other agricultural products. Thus, protecting the health and economic interests of the consumer through improved food quality and safety has been at the centre of FAO's programmes. In the early 1960s the Codex Alimentarius Commission was established with the objectives of protecting consumers' health, assuring fair practices in the food trade and promoting and establishing international standards for food quality and safety.
The United Nations Economic and Social Council formally recognized in the 1970s that consumer protection has an important bearing on economic and social development, and general guidelines for consumer protection were formally adopted by Resolution 39/248 of the United Nations General Assembly on 9 April 1985. The Guidelines for consumer protection (United Nations, 1986) call upon governments to develop, strengthen and maintain strong consumer protection policies and programmes in the areas of physical safety, economic interest, safety and quality of consumer goods and services, measures enabling consumers to obtain redress and consumer education. Food was one of three priority areas of essential concern for the health of consumers.
The United Nations General Assembly recognizes such basic consumer rights as the right to health and safety, the right to protection of economic interest, the right to choose, the right to be informed, the right of effective consumer redress and the right to be heard. Through their legal framework, many governments have taken the crucial step of confirming the basic rights of consumers and supported these rights at the highest level of governmental policy.
In 1991, the FAO/WHO Conference on Food Standards, Chemicals in Food and Food Trade was held in cooperation with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Consumer participation in decision-making was a most prominent recommendation of this meeting. The conference called for increased consumer participation at the national and international levels and strengthening of information and support systems for consumers. The International Conference on Nutrition (ICN) in 1992 recommended that consumers be protected through improved food quality and safety and outlined measures to accomplish this recommendation. In addition to pointing out infrastructure needs, the ICN recommended that consumer and producer organizations be given rights to consultation with advisory and decision-making bodies to facilitate open and transparent access to information and participation in the food control process.
In light of this history, the Expert Consultation on Integration of Consumer Interests in Food Control was deemed necessary to identify specific means to further the process of integrating the interests of consumers in food control. From 14 to 18 June 1993, 13 experts from food control agencies, industry and consumer organizations in developed and developing countries met at FAO headquarters for the consultation. Major aspects of their report are presented below.
Food control to assure the safety and nutritional value of food provides consumer protection and stimulates food industry and trade. While most developed countries have steadily increased consumer involvement in food control, the method and the degree of integration differs among countries. In developing countries, activities that integrate the interest of consumers into food control activities are relatively new and there is a need to identify issues and develop appropriate methods to address them.
This consultation sought to provide guidance and assistance to countries in the early stages of integrating consumer interests in their overall food control systems, as well as to improve this process in countries that already have initiatives in this regard. The experts aimed to adopt workable recommendations, simple in form and inexpensive to implement, which could be accepted and initiated by countries with limited resources.
Their objectives were: to assess the current status of the integration of consumer interests in food control activities; to identify barriers to effective integration and make recommendations to overcome them; to identify common issues of concern to consumers regarding food quality and safety and recommend appropriate remedies; and to determine the current needs in consumer education, access to information and consumer redress and recommend methods to enhance these programmes to further the effectiveness of consumer involvement in food control.
Institutional issues
Assuring adequate and appropriate representation of the consumer view is an important aspect of the consumer integration process. There are many consumer organizations but only a few can serve on formal governmental advisory or technical committees. Therefore, the process of selecting representatives is critical to ensure fair and honest representation of consumers in government policy- and decision-making. While this issue is best resolved locally among consumers, consumer organizations, industry and governments, some criteria were suggested for determining eligibility of consumer representatives. The consumer organization should be independent; its interests and objectives should be judged based on its actions; it should not be narrowly focused and it should be respected and supported by independent or individual consumers. The consumer organization should not be a professional or industry organization and it should promote and protect consumer rights, provide consumer education and benefit consumers as a whole.
A second issue is that of shared, overlapping and redundant responsibilities among multiple food control agencies. This can reduce accountability, waste resources and lessen responsiveness to consumer concerns, especially when interagency competition for jurisdiction and resources dominates the relationship among the food control agencies. The complexities of multiple-agency food control systems become barriers to consumer access to information and redress. Although a single food control agency would be advantageous to consumers, it seems unlikely to become a reality because of the reorganization and restructuring that would be required to create such an entity. However, cooperation and coordination among the food control agencies in a multi-agency food control system are absolutely required to maximize consumer protection.
Of particular concern is the need to establish simple consumer access and redress procedures and to coordinate consumer information and education programmes among food control agencies. The involvement of the consumer in policy- and decision-making procedures in each of the many food control agencies is considered necessary.
Raising awareness
In developing countries, food control agencies should concentrate on consumer education to raise the level of awareness and understanding of consumers about food matters and to enhance the integration of their concerns and involvement in food control. Similar educational efforts are necessary for the public media and the food industry, which influence consumer choice and knowledge.
Consumers in many countries are unaware of government objectives and programmes to protect them against poor-quality and unsafe food. They lack knowledge of the efforts by industries to improve food handling and processing practices. They do not know their rights to be involved in the entire process of policy-making in food control. Creating this awareness by providing information and education will greatly enhance and stimulate the interest of consumers to become involved in food control issues. The low level of participation of consumers in food control issues in developing countries is not due to a lack of interest by consumers; it is due to the lack of necessary information and education on these issues.
In developing countries, many food control officials tend to avoid consumer organizations, which they view as antagonistic and not representative of the true concerns of the individual consumer within the country. Frequently, they believe the consumer organizations reflect perceptions of more affluent consumers only. The issues raised by consumer groups may seem irrelevant, and even when they are viewed as important, dealing with them may be beyond the scope or resources of the food control agencies. While establishing a rapport can be difficult, dialogue and cooperation between food control officials and those organizations expressing concern for consumers will greatly assist in resolving common issues of concern through positive action.
The consultation identified several major consumer concerns and agreed that these concerns stem from lack of effective enforcement of the food law and regulations and lack of adequate dialogue with consumers or their representatives. Sustained and concerted action is required to provide better assurance to the consumer. Special steps may be needed to improve awareness of food safety and quality issues as well as the consumers' rights and the mechanisms for seeking redress for grievances. In this effort to improve information and education for the consumer, all parties - the consumer representative, the food industry and the government - have to play an active and vital role.
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MAJOR CONSUMER CONCERNS ABOUT FOOD QUALITY AND SAFETY* · Standards. Consumers feel that they do not always get fair value for their money. They are discontent with food that spoils or fails to meet expectations in taste, aroma and palatability. · Nutritional quality. In many developing countries, adulteration deprives consumers of nutritional value. In developed countries, consumers are dissatisfied with inadequate nutrient information on labels. · Food control processes. While the consumers are aware that food control regulations exist, they are not convinced that they are applied effectively. Some food producers and distributors feel that they can ignore the law with impunity. · Information. Consumers believe that the government and industry do not provide enough information to enable them to make an informed choice. Very often, labels of food do not carry adequate, easy-to-read information. Information from government, industry and other sources is often not clear or may be conflicting. · Environmental contamination. Consumers' concern has grown rapidly over possible environmental contamination of the food supply during the various stages of production. harvesting, processing, storage and distribution. They lack confidence in the ability of the food control services to provide the necessary protection. · Irradiation and biotechnology. Consumers feel that some processes using new technology are unsafe because they have not been adequately evaluated. Reliable information about newer technologies is not always available. * Not listed in order of importance. |
Factors hindering consumer involvement
The consultation identified the following major barriers to establishing formal channels of communication with consumers and integrating their views in food control policy- and decision-making: lack or inadequacy of an organized consumer movement in the country; consumers' insufficient scientific knowledge and information about food quality and safety issues and regulatory decisions; consumer attitudes, habits and educational levels; and deficiencies in the food control system.
Policy issues
Countries have the common objectives of promoting a safe -and honestly presented food supply and protecting consumers from health hazards and commercial fraud. The achievement of these objectives calls for a food control system based on a basic food law, accompanied by detailed regulations and administered by an efficient food control organization. It is in the enactment of the food legislation that the government must recognize, as a policy, the importance of public participation. It is only through such participation that the industry can share consumer protection obligations with the government and consumers can feel assured that their rights are protected. The basic policy decision to involve consumer and industry interests in food control should be confirmed in the food control law.
The consultation supported the recommendation of a statutory provision for a central advisory or coordinating committee or board to advise on matters arising from the administration of the food act (see FAO/WHO, 1976). The advisory committee or board should be representative of various governmental ministries, industry, consumers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academia, etc. whose activities warrant representation at the national level. Many countries already have such a provision. Where this does not exist, industry and consumer inputs are ensured through regulations. Thus, no major policy change or prescription or amendment of a food standard is carried out without giving the representatives of the industry and the consumers an opportunity to comment and provide additional data on the subject.
Food control authorities must encourage an open environment for scientifically based decisions. This calls for thorough preparation on the problem and Its proposed solution, with necessary evidence and scientific data regarding industry/trade practices; potential hazards and benefits to the consumer; socio-cultural issues involved, if any; the economic impact of the proposal at the Individual or the national level, etc. Involvement of consumers, NGOs and industry is particularly vital for proper risk management, which deals with analysis of options and optimum utilization of resources including regulatory and non-regulatory tools such as voluntary compliance, education and organization of training and other field operations. To command respect from industry and consumers alike the integrity of the food control system must be maintained with utmost care and determination and a relationship of trust must be built with the consumer and Industry interest groups in a transparent environment.
Many food control agencies collect considerable. Information on the status of various issues related to food quality, safety and consumer protection, Because these reports may have detrimental effects, food control agencies often refrain from making them public. The consultation agreed that such actions by food control officials do not serve the interest of the consumer or of the food control system. Sometimes through aggressive investigation and reporting by the communications media this information becomes public knowledge anyway. Accountability and public audit of the effectiveness of food control programmes are in the interest of those who are to be protected.
Infrastructure development
In developed countries, food control systems have focal points for consumer and industry liaison. This has proved to be ah effective approach for communication and coordination of activities of food control with industry and consumer representatives and vice verso. In most cases the focal point is prominent enough to reflect the importance of this activity compared with other functions of the organization
In developing countries, industry and consumer focal points are rare and those that exist are in the early stages of organizational development. Since all developing countries have active programmes for industrial and economic development, the industry support and representation. In government activities is more prominent than consumer support and representation. Within a country's food control authority, an organizational unit for educating, informing and collaborating, coordinating and communicating with industry and the consumer on food control matters should be established. The consultation outlined specific suggestions for such a unit and made the following recommendations.
General
· UN General Assembly Resolution 39/248 and the guidelines on consumer protection annexed to it provide a framework for governments (particularly those of developing countries) to use in elaborating and strengthening consumer protection policies and legislation. Governments should take the necessary steps to facilitate the development of consumer organizations and implement the guidelines, especially in the food area.
· Information given by government food control officials, industry and other sources concerning consumer protection issues in the food area should be sufficient, understandable and not misleading. It should take into consideration the socio-economic and cultural background of the consumer and should enable the consumer to make informed choices.
· Interactive communication programmes among government, industry and the consumer should be developed and promoted.
· Dialogue and coopération between food control officials and consumer organizations should be established to assist in determining and dealing with common issues.
· To bring about a measure of transparency in the decision-making process, national governments and intergovernmental organizations should prepare educational and information material to describe and explain important food safety and labelling issues to consumers. Such material should address the scientific aspects of these issues and the steps being taken by governments and international bodies to establish and implement appropriate consumer protection measures in the areas of concern. Issues of current concern include: pathogenic microorganisms, new technologies, pesticide residues, nutrition labelling, food additives and environmental contaminants. Industry and consumer organizations should contribute to and actively participate in this process.
· National and international Industry and consumer organizations should actively contribute towards wider dissémination of information on food safety and on enabling standards. This can be done by preparing and distributing information or educational materials based on those developed by governments and intergovernmental organizations.
Governments
· Governments should review their food control laws and make necessary amendments in the national legislation to institute, when not so provided, an advisory board or committee with adequate representation of consumer and industry interests, along with other governmental interests and Independent scientists and experts.
· The government should establish a consumer and Industry affairs unit within its food control structure. This unit should be adequately staffed and provided with necessary facilities and resources to carry out its functions as previously outlined in this report.
· Governments should take all possible actions to strengthen their food control systems in the larger interest of consumers, industry and trade. Where more than one agency is involved in food control, mechanisms should be developed to promote their cooperation and coordination within the clearly defined terms of reference of each agency to ensure coherence in the national food control system.
· Governments should clearly outline the rights of the consumer, and the national food control system should be able to respond effectively with appropriate actions where abuse occurs. Consumers should be informed of the role of the food control agency or agencies and the contact points through which they can seek redress for their complaints.
· National food control agencies must actively inform consumers and industry in a clear, understandable way about the processes for establishing food safety and labelling standards. They must also establish mechanisms for participation by consumers and industry in the development of such standards and regulations. While timely publication in official government gazettes and the use of advisory committees is the recognized approach, public information related to the matter should simultaneously be developed and disseminated.
International intergovernmental bodies
· The FAO/WHO Model Food Law should be reviewed to ensure that the representation of consumer and industry interests on the advisory board or committee is reinforced. Consideration should also be given to the preparation of guidelines to enable the national food control authorities to seek and make use of enhanced formal and informal inputs from consumer and industry representatives, for improved food control.
· International organizations such as FAO should develop appropriate information and educational materials on selected issues of concern to consumers worldwide; they should disseminate them through the relevant national authorities to reach the consumers and their organizations at different levels of society.
· International organizations such as FAO should strengthen their programmes for technical assistance to developing countries for establishing effective food control systems. This assistance should include the integration of consumer interests in food control.
Consumers
· Consumers need to be better organized so as to represent effectively their collective views in the process of the integration of their interests in food control. Where several consumer organizations are present nationally, every effort should be made to ensure a common level of understanding of the main issues which would facilitate their involvement in food control decision-making processes.
· Effective participation by consumer organizations calls for credibility, which can depend upon the groups' capacity to gather and present objective information and scientific data on a particular issue. They should therefore ensure that they either have within themselves the necessary technical expertise or have access to it.
· Consumer organizations should actively develop programmes and activities to prepare and disseminate information and educational material on pertinent issues of concern to different strata of the public in the fields of food quality, safety and consumer protection.
· Consumer organizations should, to the extent possible, involve themselves in the monitoring of the quality and safety of food and cooperate with national food control authorities in strengthening consumer protection.
Industry
· The food industry should strengthen its in-process quality assurance programmes, including training of food industry personnel, to ensure that the quality and safety of food are intrinsic to the product and that adequate protection is provided to the consumer.
· Industry should take special care to ensure that the labelling of food products, advertising and other promotional information issued by it are not misleading and that the information is sufficient, clear and understandable to enable the consumer to make informed choices.
· Industry should cooperate with government and consumer organizations and contribute in the preparation and dissémination of consumer information and educational material. This would call for effective industry-consumer-government dialogue to ensure objectivity of the material produced.
FAO/WHO. 1976. Guidelines for developing an effective national food control system. Rome.
United Nations. 1986. Guidelines for consumer protection. New York.
