Mella Frewen, CIAA Director General

1. Committed and Acting on Diet, Physical Activity and HealthA European PlatformTET Platform Conference19 November, Budapest Mella Frewen, CIAA Director General

2. The F&D Industry in Europe • First EU manufacturing industry 14% of total EU manufacturing turnover 13% of manufacturing jobs • More than € 840 billion of sales • 3.8 million employees • € 52,9 billion of exports - € 5,2 billion positive trade balance (2006) • Purchases and transforms 70% of agricultural raw material • A fragmented sector: 99% of food companies have less than 250 employees, 50% of the turnover is contributed by SMEs

3. A Diversified Industry Four main sectors: various food products, beverages, processed meat and dairy products Turnover (2003) Source: Eurostat, sbs

4. CIAA Membership • National Federations (25 & 3 Observers) • European Sector Associations (30) • Liaison Committee (20 companies)

5. CIAA Priorities • Increase consumer confidence in the food and drink industry • Guarantee the smooth functioning of the internal market through a competitive regulatory framework and an increase in self-regulation for the food and drink industry • Strengthen food and drink industry competitiveness to meet the challenges of globalisation on EU and world markets • Manage sustainable development through enhanced competitiveness and more responsible corporate practices

6. Context • WHOGlobal Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health • EU Multi-stakeholder Platform for Diet, Physical Activity and Health • Commission White Paper ‘A Strategy for Europe on Nutrition, Overweight and Obesity related health issues’ • European Charter on Counteracting Obesity + WHO Action Plan • EU Regulations on Health Claims, Fortified Foods, Proposal on Labelling including Nutrition Labelling

7. CIAA Position on Diet, Physical Activity and Health • Obesity has many causes and will require a multi-faceted solution that involves governments, industry, consumers and individuals working together (public-private partnerships) • Two main elements in the equation: Diet and Physical Activity • The food and drink industry understands its role in the obesity problem and is acting seriously and responsibly to deal with it

8. Our Approach • We see the EU Platform as an opportunity to forge partnerships thus building trust, share experiences and develop solutions • Transparency and active involvement – concrete and specific commitments in all areas of action • Need to focus on the implementation and monitoring of commitments

9. Areas of CIAA Commitments on the EU Platform • Consumer Information • Products and Choice • Advertising and commercial communications • Public education and physical activity programmes • Research (Public-private partnerships - overriding principle)

10. CIAA Nutrition Labelling Scheme • Launched in July 2006 • Applied on a voluntary, self-regulatory basis • Provides clear, non-competitive information enabling consumers to make better informed decisions • Fast uptake – 11 leading food companies implement the scheme • CIAA is proactively communicating the scheme to its entire membership to continue uptake • Committed to closely monitor progress

11. Product and Choice: Reformulation & Innovation • Product portfolios of major food & drink companies are expanding to offer a choice of products lower in fat, sugar and salt and with a higher micro-nutrient content. • Existing product are being reformulated to reduce levels of fat, sugar, TFAs and salt and new products have been launched with a healthier profile. • New products are being developed + introduced that have lower levels of fat, TFAs, sugar and salt. • CIAA Survey (11 companies representing 61 billion Euros in annual sales, approx. 7% of European sales): • Over the past three years, these companies have put more than 4,000 new product compositions (reformulations or innovations) on the market for European consumers.

12. Advertising and Marketing Self-Regulation CIAA has developed voluntary codes on food and beverage advertising and marketing communications, which are being rolled out accross the EU. These apply to telephone, TV, radio, press, cinema, internet, direct marketing, sales promotions, sponsorship • Need for substantiation for claims or health benefits • Not encouraging excess consumption • Not representing snacks as meals • Not undermine healthy lifestyles messages • Not undermine the role of parents • etc. Many companies have adopted strict internal marketing communication guidelines for marketing to children.

13. Compliance Levels across Europe 2006Final sample: 2,528 ads monitored for compliance EASA 2006

14. Healthy Lifestyle Campaign(multistakeholder commitment) • EU White Paper on Nutritionstates that the Commission will support scientific information and education campaigns to raise awareness of lifestyle related health problems adressed to vulnerable groups • Purpose of the Campaign: To raise awareness among individuals (children 8-12 years old) of the attitude that can be adopted to improve their diets and to increase physical activity levels and thereby adopt a Healthy Lifestyle • Accomplished actions: CIAA conducted consumer research to find out on what kind of motivational messages the campaign should be built.

15. Key conclusions of the research We need to bring the concept of “healthy lifestyle” into children’s world and reinforce that it does not have to be boring nor about restrictions. • Sport and exercise is already part of children’s world. They like it because it’s a way of being with peers; a way to socialize and be part of a group.  • We need to make nutrition part of their world, too, by stressing that healthy eating can be fun when in the context of a balanced diet.

16. How to implement the campaign? Current Actions: • Presentation of the results of our research to 10 international agency networks — creative and media – completed in June 2007 • Discussions with media owners/sales houses to determine availability of pro bono space • Discussions with selected countries (Hungary, Czech Republic, Portugal, Greece, Slovakia) to explore the possibility of working in partnership with public authorities • Development of prototypical campaign(s) in multi-media formats  to be done as a next step

17. CIAA Monitoring of Key Commitments • Our methodology – product reformulation • Sample would be representative of relevant food and beverage companies in five big markets • Sampling unit would be national level enterprises • Sample size would be 1,500 or 2,000 companies • Ensures sample is proportionally representative and large enough to analyse subsets of the data • Process/methodology/results will be validated and possibly lead to a scientific peer-reviewed publication • Results of 1st yearly monitoring to be shared on the 3rd anniversary of the EU Platform

18. Why Self-Regulation? • Industry self –regulation has the potential to address concerns more immediately than goverment intervention. • Advertising self-regulation is an efficient, affordable and effective complement to statutory enforcement • Self-regulation can more easily adapt to changes in society and national requirements • To be credible self-regulation must betransparent, well defined and independently monitored

19. Conclusions • Work and commitments from all stakeholders are required to address the obesity issue • The F&D industry has been listening and is responding to the challenge • We have committed • We are working hard at implementing and monitoring our commitments • We continue to be open to discussions with all stakeholders and authorities to find proportionate and effective solutions to fight obesity • Together we can make a difference

20. To find more information about CIAA www.ciaa.eu Access to news, positions and publications