Policy Picks: FSSAI food business licensing, UK's wish to join CPTPP, Japan food labelling and more feature in our round-up

By Pearly Neo

- Last updated on GMT

FSSAI food business licensing, UK's wish to join CPTPP, Japan food labelling and more feature in this edition of Policy Picks. ©Getty Images
FSSAI food business licensing, UK's wish to join CPTPP, Japan food labelling and more feature in this edition of Policy Picks. ©Getty Images

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FSSAI food business licensing, UK's wish to join CPTPP, Japan food labelling and more feature in this edition of Policy Picks.

Deadline extension is not enough: Indian trade body calls on FSSAI to completely waive food licensing for the year

Indian trade association Federation of All India Vyapar Mandal (FAIVM) has called upon the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to completely waive license renewals for food businesses due to COVID-19, instead of just extending the renewal deadline.

According to FAIVM National General Secretary V K Bansal, this deadline would affect all food businesses that require an annual FSSAI License renewal, including firms from food manufacturers to processors to food service outlets and so on.

UK CPTPP accession: Big boon for APAC meat and fresh products if successful, but hurdles ahead – expert analysis

The United Kingdom’s intention to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) would greatly benefit food trade for APAC countries – but many hurdles lie ahead, according to expert analysis.

From the angle of food and beverage trade, meat and fresh produce are expected to be the biggest beneficiaries if the UK successfully joins the CPTPP.

“Beef and lamb from the region would definitely see a boost in exports due to the increased market access to the UK – they’re really keen on this, as they used to have preferential access until the EU came along and clamped this and their tariff advantages, so they want the preferential access back now EU is out of the picture,” ​trade consultancy firm ITS Global Director Jon Berry told FoodNavigator-Asia​.

Japan food labelling revision: ‘Artificial’ and ‘synthetic’ terms banned for food additives

Japan has by banning the use of the terms ‘artificial’ and ‘synthetic’ to describe food additives on all food and beverage labels after consumer research found they were causing consumers to shun such products.

This was announced by the Japanese Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) as a revision to the country’s Food Labelling Standards, a revision based on a Food Additive Labelling study conducted by the agency.

“According to the study results, consumers tend to avoid products that are labelled with the words ‘artificial’ and ‘synthetic’ when it comes to food additives [even though these have been certified by the government],”​ said CAA in the revision report.

Making Indonesia 4.0: Digital drive and ramping up self-reliance key for food industry - Minister

The Indonesian government is urging its local food and beverage industry to embrace digital advancement and shift towards the use of local raw ingredients for manufacturing as part of the national Making Industry 4.0 industrial strategy.

Making Indonesia 4.0 was first announced by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in 2018 with key technologies such as Internet of things, artificial intelligence, automation, robotics and sensor technology at its core to elevate Indonesia’s status into a global Top 10 economy by 2030.

The F&B industry was identified as the top priority sector in the initial Making Indonesia 4.0 report published by the Indonesian Ministry of Industry (Keminperin), based on the impact its transformation would bring for the economy. 

Mandatory salt reformulation: Australia’s new voluntary programme leaves sour taste with health experts

The Australian government has released a range of sodium reformulation targets to be implemented on a voluntary basis by the local F&B industry over the next four years, but public health researchers believe that this should be made mandatory.

The sodium reformulation targets cover for 27 different sub-categories of packaged foods, to be implemented starting July 2020 under the Australian Department of Health’s (DOH) Partnership Reformulation Programme. These targets range from the lowest target of 270mg/100g for batter/crumb-coated seafoods, to the highest at 1,270mg/100g for processed cheeses.

The DOH is targeting an 80% compliance rate by food and beverage firms to implement these targets voluntarily - but researchers at the George Institute for Global Health say that past examples have shown that voluntary targets for sodium are unlikely to make much of an impact on population health.

 

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