Ecuador’s food industry is considering the changes that new Andean labelling regulations would mean for them.

The Andean Community of Nations (CAN) , a customs union consisting of Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Bolivia, is working on a set of technical rules for the labelling of packaged food products for human consumption.

The CAN believes shared labelling rules will help boost commerce in the zone. Exports between the four countries grew 12 percent last year, whereas exports from CAN nations to non-CAN nations only increased by three percent. The total worth in 2012 of the exports between the Andean countries was about $10.3 billion.

Christian Wahli, from Ecuador’s national association of food and drink producers (Anfab), said the labelling issue worries his members, because they export to countries outside of the CAN.

“Imagine needing a different label for Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela. It’s not going to lead anywhere. It’s an impossible situation, we’d have to label two or three times, depending on where the product is going,” he said.

He says all of South America should come to a consensus about food labels, not just the four Andean countries.

Xavier Sisa, a director at the Chamber of Industries and Production, says that nutritional information will be excluded from the standardized labelling rules. Ecuador’s Ministry of Health is working separately on a regulation for the nutrition facts presented on food labels.

Original story