Agenda

08:30 – 09:00

Registration and Welcome Coffee

09:00 – 10:30

Session 1: EU & Global strategies for tackling obesity

09:00 – 09:30

Keynote Address – Priorities for tackling obesity during the Trio Presidency

Gaëlle Powis , Attaché Food, Animal Health and Welfare & Plant Health , Permanent Representation of Belgium to EU

09:30 – 10:00

Presentation: Tackling obesity in Europe - From EPODE to EEN (European EPODE Network)

Jean-Michel Borys , Director, EPODE & EEN

10:00 – 10:30

Presentation: Tackling Obesity – the American approach

Pamela Bailey , President & CEO, Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA)

10:30 – 11:00

Coffee Break

11:00 – 12:30

Session 2: How successful has the EU health platform been in tackling obesity?

The EU Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health was launched in 2005 with the aim of reversing the rise in obesity, particularly among children. Almost 5 years on, with a new Commission imminent, how successful has the platform been to date, and where does it need to go from here? What impact has it had on obesity in Europe and are the 200 plus pledges made as a direct result of the platform evidence that the self-regulatory approach is working, or have the targets been too easy to achieve? What should now be the next phase?

11:00 – 11:15

Keynote Presentation

Robert Madelin , Director General, DG SANCO, European Commission

11:15 – 12:30

Panel discussion

Robert Madelin , Director General, DG SANCO, European Commission
Lyn Trytsman-Gray , Chair , CIAA Diet Task Force
Philippe Binard , General Delegate, Freshfel Europe
Susanne Logstrup , Director, EHN

12:30 – 13:45

Lunch Break

13:45 – 15:15

Session 3: Front of pack food labelling - from discussion to decision

Lack of clarity on front of pack labelling is arguably leading to confusion amongst consumers, and may also affect industry competitiveness. The Commission’s draft Recommendation on food information to consumers is currently going through the European Parliament, so now seems a good time for the arguing to stop, and a decision made on a unified food-labelling scheme. Where does the balance lie between allowing consumers to make an informed choice, and the imposing of a healthy lifestyle? What is the most effective labelling system, or is the real solution a hybrid of the two? Are there sound reasons for alcoholic beverages to be excluded from the regulation?

Renate Sommer MEP , Rapporteur- Consumer's Proposal , European Parliament
Sue Davies , Chief Policy Adviser , Which?
Clair Baynton , Head of Nutrition, , Food Standards Agency
Joan Prats , Corporate Responsibility Director Health & Wellness, Coca-Cola Europe

15:15 – 15:45

Coffee Break

15:45 – 17:15

Session 4: Regulating Advertising to Children- the carrot or the stick?

The Food and Drink industry currently has a self-regulatory system on advertising to children, with the Commission’s powers limited to merely ‘naming and praising’. European and international regulators are set to decide 2010 whether the current system is working or if there is a need to introduce a more regulatory based approach. Has the pattern of advertising to children changed since the industry pledges in 2007? Have industry codes of conduct gone far enough and how well is the current system working to identify which foods are covered by the measures? Would new regulation at this stage be positive, or would it instead undermine the efforts already being made by industry?

Jaroslaw Waligora , Policy Officer, European Commission
Joanna Wrona , Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMD), European Commission
Will Gilroy , Communications Director, The World Federation of Advertisers
Laurence Doughan , Coordinator of National Plan Nutrition Health , Federal Ministry of Public Health, Belgium
Joao Breda , Senior Officer Noncommunicable Diseases and Environment (Nutrition), WHO Regional Office for Europe
Joost Martens , Director General, Consumers International

17:20 – 17:30

Address

Claus Vogele , Research, University of Luxembourg

17:30 – 19:00

Networking cocktail reception

08:45 – 10:05

Session 5: The Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation

08:45 – 09:15

Keynote Address

Catherine Geslain Lanéelle , Executive Director, EFSA

09:15 – 09:35

What impact could nutrition profiling criteria have on new product development & reformulation?

Anne Heughan , External Affairs Director, Unilever, on behalf of CIAA

09:35 – 09:55

What is likely to be included on the final list of permitted health claims, and what is not?

Stefanie Geiser , Italy Regulatory Affairs, EAS

09:55 – 10:15

Discussion

10:15 – 10:40

Coffee Break

10:40 – 12:15

Session 6: Nutrient Profiling - Moving Beyond the Claims?

Nutrient Profiling is only being discussed within the confines of the Nutrition and Health Claims regulation, but there are those who say that once an EU-wide consensus on profiles has been achieved, why not use it also in other legislative areas such as front of pack labeling, advertising to children etc.? Would this be appropriate & to what extent would it be feasible? How might the EU’s industrial competitiveness be affected? What impact will the EU nutrient profiling system have on countries outside Europe?

Jie Hu , Policy Advisor, EAS, Asia
Mike Rayner , Director , British Heart Foundation Health Promotion Research Group
Jennette Higgs , UK Dietician, American Peanut Council
, tbc, WHO *
Jaap Seidell , Professor, Nutrition and Health

11:45 – 12:15

Final Discussion and end of Conference