Agenda item 3.3 will seek the board's views on a number of strategic labelling issues such as the establishment of labelling principles, the issue of labelling of foods sold loose and proposals for further consumer research.

It will also seek to get the board's endorsement of the proposal that there are insufficient grounds to change the labelling requirements at EU level for foods sold loose/pre-packed for direct sale, but that the FSA should monitor consumer information needs for such foods.

The FSA has also outlined a number of unresolved issues. For example, food industry and consumer groups remain poles apart over the question of mandatory nutrition labelling.

Nutrition labelling for the bloc is governed by the Council Directive 90/496/EC, and a subsequent amendment in 2003. In November 2004 the EC published an impact assessment on the topic conducted by European Advisory Services on the mandatory nutrition labelling for pre-packaged food products.

The findings of the consultation industry are in line with those of EAS: while most consumer and health NGOs said they were in favour of a mandatory approach, the food industry continues to press for a voluntary approach.

The FSA has also pointed out that there are some current mandatory labelling requirements in the Food Labelling Directive that are less than clear-cut. An example of this would be 'double labelling', where an ingredient is declared in the ingredients list but must also be accompanied by supplementary wording.

Indeed, the FSA has said that the simplification of labelling legislation is a key objective within the context of the government's Better Regulation Initiative. It claims that the introduction of labelling principles would benefit all stakeholders, providing a clear framework within which both present and future labelling decisions could be based.

European food labelling legislation covers both food and drink, and is based on three basic principles: to protect public health; to inform consumer choice; and to facilitate free trade within the Community. It governs both information on labels and information provided by other means, including advertising and presentation.

The FSA has been working within this framework to propose a set of principles that would cover the general provision of information as well as providing a basis for considering information that must be provided to the consumer on a mandatory basis.

Any proposal for changes to mandatory labelling requirements would need to be subject to public consultation and cleared across government before being negotiated in Brussels.