Food products labeling: novelties of Ukrainian legislation

Abstract

Background. The need to create a comprehensive and multidimensional legislative base for the implementation of consumer protection, and its harmonization with the legislation of the European Union, which is stipulated by the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, became the main reason for the adoption of the Law of Ukraine "On Consumer Information on Food Products". A clear understanding of the peculiarities of implementing its content and requirements, in particular with respect to the responsibilities of market operators, providing mandatory and voluntary information, implementation of compliance monitoring, responsibility for providing inaccurate and false information, final and transitional provisions, will allow more effectively to ensure their work in the market and to ensure competitiveness and confidence in the performance.
The aim of the workis a detailed analysis and research of the content of the requirements "On Information for Consumers on Food Products" in order to work out the methodological aspects of its implementation, identify key stakeholder benefits and be prepared for market operators to implement.
Materials and methods. As a methodological basis, the content of the Law of Ukraine "On Information for Consumers on Food Products", methods of comparative analysis and synthesis, isolation and generalization, induction and deduction, systematization of methodological aspects of food safety management by proper consumer information were used.
Results. It is established that the updated rules and requirements of the Law of Ukraine "On Information for Consumers on Food Products" fully comply with the provisions of the EU countries legislation in this field, in particular with norms of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011.
When defining the terminology base the new Law establishes interpretation of 33 concepts, the most important of which are "date to use", "ingredient", "information about food product", "minimum shelf life", "descriptive name", "primary field of vision", "field of vision" and "legibility" The document stipulates that information for final consumers or catering establishments must be provided in the state language, it must be accurate, reliable, understandable and not mislead about product characteristics, contain information about the composition and substances that cause allergic reactions or intolerance. To ensure that the public is properly informed, the Law sets requirements for font size, spacing of letters and lines, font width and color, headsets, width / height ratio, material surface and the contrast between the printed object and the background.
It is found that almost 63 % of domestic food processing enterprises are ready to fulfill the requirements of the Law, about 10–16 % are preparing to do it, while the rest of the enterprises are operating in the regional and local markets and have to meet the requirements during the transition period.
Conclusion. The adoption of Law should help to improve the safety of food products, that are presented in the domestic market, to inform consumers about its properties, to increase the competitiveness of national producers in terms of entering the European and international markets by bringing domestic requirements in line with recognized one, acting in the EU, to increase the level of satisfaction of society and citizens with the activity of state bodies, increasing the authority of their work.

legal framework, consumer information, labeling, responsible food market operators, label, food product information, warranty