Legislative agenda setting, development and approval of national legislation to require front-of package-warning labels to regulate the marketing of processed and ultra-processed food and drink products

Argentina Legislative agenda setting, development and approval of national legislation to require front-of package-warning labels to regulate the marketing of processed and ultra-processed food and drink products

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Argentina has a growing prevalence of overweight and obesity associated with unhealthy diet-related diseases affecting all age groups. This has led to increased morbidity and mortality. The nutritional transition is largely driven by the increase in demand and supply of processed and ultra-processed foods easily available in the country. To address this, PAHO/WHO Argentina, together with the regional office, supported the national authorities in Argentina in developing, adopting, and implementing the healthy eating law (No 27642), incorporating the best practices on front-of-package warning labels and adopting the food classification tools agreed by PAHO/WHO Member States [1, 2]. This work also safeguarded the policy space from conflicts of interest and interference from industry, ensuring sustainability in the practice and maintaining vigilance in front-of-package labelling standards. After the law’s adoption in December 2021 and following support from PAHO/WHO in its implementation, as of September 2022, octagonal front-of-package labels are now visible citing excess levels of sugars, sodium, fats, and additives to educate consumers before they make their choices.

Key WHO Contributions

Advocacy for setting parliamentary and government agenda on healthy diets
Collating and presenting evidence and international best practices to legislators
Engagement of Argentine legislators and of parliamentarians from other countries to build a supportive network for the legislative process
Development of social communication campaigns and media presence on the importance of adopting PAHO/WHO's best practices to optimize policy effectiveness
Technical cooperation with the Ministry of Health establishing the regulation that provides the technical specifications for implementation of the law.

How did Argentina, with the support of the PAHO/WHO Secretariat, achieve this?

In Argentina, more than 65% of the population over 18 years of age has excess body weight according to the latest National Survey of Risk Factors in 2018, with the population that is obese greater than 25% - a 75% increase since 2005 [3]. Similarly, 13% of children under 5 years of age and 40% of adolescents aged between 13-15 are overweight, the latter according to the World School Health Survey conducted in Argentina in 2018 [4, 5]. Such expressions of malnutrition are mostly driven by the rising demand for and offer of processed and ultra-processed products excessive in sugars, sodium, fats, and containing additives such as sweeteners that disrupt healthy diets and cannot be easily identified by people at the time of purchase.

Front-of-package warning labels can facilitate change in consumption patterns, allowing consumers to identify the risks present in certain foods. They can also assist the national authorities to apply other regulatory measures such as marketing restrictions and regulations around the school food environment and public food procurement.

^{Poster for public sanitization.}Photo credit:PAHO/WHO Argentina.

To advocate for change, PAHO/WHO Argentina established a strategic alliance with the Directorate of International Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina back in 2017 to convene several fora with legislators and parliamentary advisors to share evidence and international experience on front-of-package labelling. This also included taxation on sugary drinks and regulation of marketing unhealthy food commodities, among other regulatory policies that are part of PAHO/WHO’s Plan of Action for the Prevention of Obesity in Children and Adolescents [6]. PAHO/WHO Argentina also partnered with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and UNICEF, and facilitated experience sharing from Chile during the parliamentary gatherings. Such meetings were repeated annually, adding more experiences from other countries, and sharing additional evidence.

These actions enhanced the recognition of PAHO/WHO Argentina as a reference for legislators and parliamentary advisors drafting bills on advancing such policy tools. Several bills emerged from the process, including opposing ones. However, ultimately, the support provided by PAHO/WHO Argentina through evidentiary and practical experiences, was instrumental in gathering parliamentary consensus across political groups.

‘This law plays a fundamental role in informing and warning consumers of the excess presence of critical nutrients in products, and thus prevent malnutrition and reduce the development of chronic noncommunicable diseases’.

Senator Fernández Segasti

This bill advanced and several hearings were held by the parliament, with the presence of legislators, academia, civil society and industry. Both the country and the regional office PAHO/WHO participated in all these hearings, providing advice and clarifications. PAHO/WHO also joined efforts with UNICEF and FAO in Argentina launching a campaign on social media to support the need for a policy that could effectively help consumers easily identify products that could harm their health through the use of octagonal warning labels.

Through targeted advocacy, strategic partnerships with national legislators, public health authorities and UN agencies, and reliable evidence, the legislative process culminated to the adoption of the bill into law in December 2021 [1]. PAHO/WHO Argentina further contributed to the development of the regulations that provided the technical specifications for implementation of the law and continues to advise national authorities on its implementation, monitoring and enforcement.

‘The maximum values of sugars, saturated fats, total fats and sodium established must comply with the limits of the Nutrient Profile of the Pan American Health Organization.’ (Law 27642) [1]

PAHO/WHO’s support throughout this journey enabled Argentina to adopt a law with effective policy instruments (No 27642), meeting PAHO/WHO best practices and shortening the time between policy adoption and implementation [7, 8]. As of September 2022, the population of Argentina can now easily identify products that are harmful to their health, and as the implementation of marketing and school food environment regulations conclude in the coming years, children will also be protected from such commercial practices. Based on the experiences of other countries in the region, we expect to see consumers making healthier choices, with long lasting effects on healthy diets, improved nutrition and health outcomes.

References

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