Regulate the reduction of food loss and waste, generate a culture of donation and guarantee that producers, processors, distributors, marketers and importers donate them to mitigate the hunger of people in situations of food vulnerability, is the main objective of the Law to Prevent and Reduce Food Loss and Waste and Mitigate the Hunger of People in a situation of Food Vulnerability, recently approved by the National Assembly, and also known as the ‘Full Belly’ Law.
This rule, which was already published in the Official Registry on May 30, establishes that there is an articulated work between the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, as the governing body, the Decentralized Autonomous Governments and the Ministries of Health, Production and Social Inclusion.
Among its main provisions is implementing a certification called Supportive Actor –in charge of the Ecuadorian Professional Training Service in conjunction with the agriculture portfolio and the National Agency for Regulation, Control and Sanitary Surveillance- to recognize donors, tax incentives for these, and the realization of fairs which will be aimed at producers, processors, distributors, marketers and importers of food products, as well as awareness and information campaigns.
Assemblywoman Lucía Placencia, vice president of the Food Sovereignty Commission of the Assemblyhighlights the relevance of the approval of this norm, which received 115 votes in favor, and refers to the need to understand and raise awareness that it is inhumane to destroy food when 1.3% of Ecuadorians are undernourished.
“We had to go through a pandemic and many families did not have food to take to their families… while in the warehouses of the stores there was food that was close to reaching its expiration date,” he says, adding that they hope the regulation that the Executive must issue is the closest for a correct application of the Law.
Within a period of 180 days, from the effective date of the Law, the Executive must issue the regulations and public policy should be developed to combat the loss of food waste. The Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion (MIES) will have a period of 90 days to issue the criteria of people classified in a situation of food vulnerability.
Likewise, the Ministry of Health will have a period of 180 days to develop and establish policies that implement guidelines for the process of labeling food products. regarding expiration dates with the implementation of a preferential consumption datewhich allows the donation of food that is still fit for consumption.
On the best before date, nutritionist Betsy Aguirre mentions that this implementation should be according to each type of food, but considers that it is something very positive.
“If it is a dairy product and it is one or two days past its expiration date, there is no problem, but if we are talking about weeks, months, this would already imply a risk due to pathogens… it would be good if they also focused on legumes , like beans, chickpeas, oatmeal, which can last for months,” he stresses.
Meanwhile, the Law establishes, in article 11, that the actors involved in the donation process will be the recipients, donors, beneficiaries and facilitators. The first will be legally constituted non-governmental non-profit organizations or foundations that will be in charge of managing the links between the productive sector and people in a situation of food vulnerability, managing the donation of products that have reached the end of the commercialization cycle, to expire or expired, but fit for human consumption.
The donors will be any national or foreign natural or legal person that is dedicated to the production, processing or distribution, marketing and importation of food. that have reached the end of the marketing cycle and will be delivered free of charge. The beneficiaries will be people in a situation of food vulnerabilitygiving priority to children and adolescents, people with disabilities, older adults, victims of natural disasters and pandemics, people in contexts of human mobility, communities, towns and nationalities and inhabitants of cantons in the border area.
The facilitators will be those natural or legal persons who collaborate with equipment, infrastructure to the receiving organizations In order to meet its objectives, the Decentralized Autonomous Governments will also act as facilitators within their spheres of competence.
Currently one of these entities that under the Law will be called receivers is the Quito Food Bank (BAQ), which since 2003 has been dedicated to collecting food donations to deliver them to people in vulnerable situations through organizations or foundations in the capital.
Its director, José Luis Guevara, says that it must be understood that hunger exists not because of a problem of lack of food, but because of a problem of distributionwhich with this Law put all the actors involved to talk and highlighted the problems that exist around food vulnerability, which in the region went back between ten and twenty years due to the pandemic.
“In our database we have more than 300 social organizations that request food and we can barely attend to 100, not because we don’t want to but because we don’t have the food to distribute”, he says and explains that the deliveries are weekly, with the products that more than fifty companies deliver to them, but that dairy products, canned foods and proteins are always very difficult to obtain as a donation and They hope that with the Law this will change, because they are part of the basic basket and are essential for a complete diet.
The director mentions that the participation of the Decentralized Autonomous Governments will be very important. These authorities must coordinate with the receiving organizations the food distribution points. In article 21, there is talk of territorial prioritization for which local governments plan and detect the areas with the greatest food vulnerability.
The standard also includes a sanctioning regime that establishes serious and very serious infractions if companies choose to destroy the production of food fit for consumption or sell or use the donated products for a different purpose. These penalties will range between half, one and two unified basic remunerations.
about sanctions, Placencia refers that the norm does not seek to be an inquisitor for food companies and that sanctions are something that they hope will not be needed.because what they really seek is to create awareness in society in general of the importance of donation and the solidarity that it entails.
“In Ecuador, 939,000 tons of food are wasted a year… we want companies to be more empathetic and supportive… there are some companies that have stated that they are willing to donate, but at the same time others that do not find that mechanism for certain perishable food,” he says.
For his part, Aguirre highlights the importance of donating food to mitigate hunger and encourage the fight against malnutrition and says that priority should be given to foods such as fruits, vegetables and vegetables.
“Our country has a very fertile land, there is a variety of vegetables, fruits, vegetables, donations can focus on natural, real foods, which are of great nutritional value for those who are the beneficiaries,” he explains.
He refers that a key point for the entire donation process, from collection to delivery, must be avoiding cross-contamination when handling food.
“There must be good storage, a cheese cannot be next to a legume, everything must be well distributed inside the refrigerator or where it is stored to avoid cross-contamination, maintain the sanitation and asepsis that food needs and guarantee a shelf life. longer,” he says. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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