The Council of Ministers of Economic Integration (COMIECO in Spanish), should be the body in charge of issuing the regional regulation on labeling, the Honduran Council of Private Enterprise (COHEP in Spanish) said today in a conversation with journalists.
The law under study seeks to label food and beverage products with black seals on the front of the package based on a criterion of the Pan American Health Organization.
“Honduras is part of Central America, therefore, we have to abide by regional regulations,” said COHEP’s executive director, Armando Urtecho, warning of damage to competitiveness, price increases and unemployment, among others, if in Honduras, these regulations are issued via the National Congress.
The private sector has recently asked the opinion commission of the National Congress (CN) to paralyze the discussion of the Front End Labeling Law in order to give the opportunity, as Costa Rica is doing, Guatemala and Nicaragua, for the Committee of the National Congress (CN) to issue the regulation through the National Congress. Guatemala and Nicaragua, that the Comieco, be the one to issue this regional regulation on labeling.

The National Service of Agricultural Health and Food Safety (SENASAG in Spanish) published by means of the ADMINISTRATIVE RESOLUTION Nº042/2023, the update of the Labeling Regulation of Food Products for Human Consumption. The update incorporates the implementation of the procedure for the use and issuance of certificates of approval of labels online and digital signatures.

There are 30 days left for the new food labeling regulations to come into force. As of October 9, 2022, products launched on the market will already have to have labels that comply with the new rules.

For products already on the market, there are different adaptation deadlines (see timeline below). Among the main changes is the adoption of front-of-pack nutrition labeling, in addition to changes in the table of nutrition information and claims.

The labeling changes were established by Resolution of the Collegiate Directive Council (RDC) 429 and Normative Instruction (IN) 75, published in October 2020. The objective of the standards is to improve the clarity and legibility of food labels and, in doing so, help consumers make more conscious food choices.