NOTIFICATION

Addendum

The following communication, dated 20 December 2023, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Australia.

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Title: Proposal P1062 Defining added sugars for claims – Call for Submissions document

Description: Proposal P1062 – Defining added sugars for claims considered amending the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) to define and clarify added sugars for the purposes of making voluntary nutrition content claims about added sugars.

New Zealand notified the assessment report for P1062 in accordance with article 2.9.2 of the WTO TBT Agreement. The final date for comment was 10 November 2023.

Following consideration of comments received a revised version of the notified draft requirements for voluntary nutrition content claims about 'no added sugar(s)' and 'unsweetened' (and synonyms) has been adopted in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. The adopted version does not permit a 'no added sugar(s)' claim when the food for sale contains, or is, an 'added sugar' (as defined), or exceeds specified limits for total sugars.

The instrument was gazetted on 13 December 2023 and commenced on that day. A transition period of 48 months will apply ending on 13 December 2027. The new requirements for voluntary 'no added sugar(s)' and 'unsweetened' claims will enter into force on 14 December 2027. However, a product that was packaged and labelled before the end of the transition period that complies with the Code as in force without the variations made by this instrument, may be sold during a 24 month post-transition period. The post-transition period begins on 14 December 2027 and ends on 14 December 2029.

The adopted version includes the following amendments to the notified draft requirements:

·_        The requirement that a claim cannot be made if 'added sugar' as defined is added as an ingredient to a food is retained but amended so that a claim is also not permitted for an 'added sugar' which is sold as the food (e.g. jar of syrup or jar of honey).

·_        The definition of 'added sugar' has been amended to:

·_        include concentrated and deionised vegetable juice

·_        provide an exemption for concentrated and deionised fruit and vegetable juices when the food for sale is a prescribed beverage (as defined)

·_        specify low-energy sugar D-tagatose as an added sugar.

·_        The claim conditions based on the addition of fruit-based ingredients (e.g. fruit juice, fruit puree, etc.) and blends of fruit-based ingredients, have been replaced with disqualifying criteria based on total sugars content.

·_        The disqualifying criteria for sugars produced from hydrolysis for cereal-based plant milks has been extended to all foods with sugars produced from hydrolysis.

·_        The sugar alcohols that must not be present in a food to make an 'unsweetened' claim' has been amended to include maltitol and erythritol.

Submissions received through the domestic consultation process and comments received on the notification to the WTO TBT Committee were considered as part of the process to determine amendments. Technical explanations and responses to submissions are provided in the P1062 Approval Report: https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/food-standards-code/proposals/p1062-defining-added-sugars-claims

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