Ministry of Health and Congress aligned against the use of octagons

Entrepreneurs dedicated to importing foods with high sugar, sodium, and trans and saturated fat content will no longer have to wait for a new extension to continue using adhesive octagons, after the Ministry of Health (Minsa) announced this Friday that As of today, it will submit to the ruling issued by Indecopi last April so that the warning can be printed or posted at its discretion.

This, after the Minsa “did not accredit having identified, before establishing the prohibition, the existence of a problem that the measure sought to solve, nor its suitability”, nor “supported that the measure in question was the least onerous compared to other alternative measures”, according to the Specialized Competition Defense Chamber (SDC) of Indecopi. The prerogative will also reach mypes produce these foods locally.

When the Advertising Warnings Manual was issued in June 2018, companies were provisionally allowed to use adhesive octagons while they adapted. A first extension arrived in 2020, then one in 2021 and two in 2022. The last one was to last until June 2023. It will no longer be necessary, since the declaration of a “non-tariff trade barrier” consigned by indecopi three months ago could now be strengthened by an opinion that cooks the Permanent Commission congressional.

Precisely, bill 3933, which seeks to exempt imported food and non-alcoholic beverages produced by local mypes from the use of indelible octagons on their wrappers, includes this same ruling from the regulatory body, courtesy of its author, congresswoman Maria Del Carmen Alva. It was approved on the first ballot this week as well.

sticky interest

The College of Nutritionists (CNP) has lamented the weak defense of the Minsa and questions a possible interference of business interests, at the Legislative and Executive level, to block crucial public health mechanisms that, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) by 2021, are breached by three out of four products —between nationals and imported— in the Peruvian market.

“It is unfortunate that the Executive, on the one hand, disagrees with the substitutes (in the case of infant formulas without octagons), but allows the use of adhesives by small and micro-enterprises. It is the Peruvian attacking another Peruvian,” he refers. Maritza Zela, dean of the CNP.

For his part, consumer law attorney Jaime Delgado anticipates an unconstitutionality action from various fronts against the congressional initiative. He points to multiple studies showing that adhesives can be removed with friction or heat. “The use of adhesives violates labeling regulations, because —by placing them on containers that have not been predesigned for them— you end up covering other information that could be important,” he warns.

Octagons: a battle that has been waged for 6 years

In 2021, Minsa and OPS conducted a study to analyze the inclusion of advertising warnings on the packaging or labels of 259 products sold in Peru, according to current regulations. 76% failed to comply and reached 90% in the case of imported products.

Among many other observations, Aspec pointed out that, in the event of a claim, the company can evade its responsibility by blaming the grocer or supermarket for having placed the sticker where it should not go.

Comex considered the stickers to be positive. Its Legal and Regulatory Affairs manager, Jaime Dupuy, pointed out that the mypes, in case of exporting, would not be able to produce a double wrapper, with and without octagons, for other markets.

The word

Maritza Zela, dean of the College of Nutritionists

“The products made by the mypes They are the first to have defaulted. We demand the Executive, especially the Minsa, to reconsider this decision, since constitutional rights are being ignored.