RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.96.19
7February 1996
ORGANIZATION
(96-0449)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: UNITED STATES
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Food andDrug Administration (30)
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Food
5. Titleandnumber ofpages ofthenotified document: Food Labelling: Nutrient Content
Claims, General Principles; Health Claims, General Requirements andOther Specific
Requirements forIndividual Health Claims (22pages)
6. Description ofcontent: TheAdministration isproposing toamend itsregulations on
nutrient content claims andhealth claims toprovide additional flexibility intheuseof
these claims onfoodproducts. Theadministration 'scurrent regulations were issued in
January of1993 toimplement theNutrition Labelling andEducation Actof1990. This
document proposes refinements tothose regulations toallow additional synonyms for
nutrient content claims without specific preclearance bytheAdministration, permit
health claims oncertain foods thatdonotcurrently qualify because theydonotcontain
10percent ofcertain required nutrients, permit theuseofshortened versions of
authorized health claims under certain circumstances, eliminate some oftherequired
elements forhealth claims, andprovide additional guidance forpetitioners seeking
exemption from thedisqualification ofsome foods from bearing ahealth claim because
theycontain highlevels ofcertain nutrients.
7. Objective andrationale: These changes areintended tobenefit public health by
encouraging manufacturers tousehealth claims andnutrient content claims thatwill
assist consumers inmaintaining ahealthy diet.
8. Relevant documents: 60FR66206, 21December 1995; 21CFRpart101. Willappear
intheFederal Register when adopted.
9. Proposed dateofadoption andentry intoforce: TheAdministration isproposing that
anyfinalrules theymayissue based upon thisproposal become effective onthedateof
publication.
10. Final dateforcomments: 20March 1996
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: