The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) general council has been asked to approve global regulations stating whether a food manufacturing process is important enough for the processed ingredient or product to legally be considered a new product, made in the country of manufacture, rather than where the raw material was sourced.

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The chairman of a special WTO rules of origin committee has for instance recommended that the making of chocolate preparations from cocoa powder creates a new product.


The committee is trying to harmonise these rules internationally; current regulations are national and can conflict, often making trading difficult.


Its chairman has also recommended that refining raw sugar does not create a new product as raw sugar already has sucrose content of 97.5%. And he is proposing that the creation from sugar of invert sugar and sugar syrup, molasses from sugar plants, cocoa paste from cocoa beans and cocoa powder from cocoa paste does not legally create a new product.


Another recommendation is that fresh, slaughtered and butchered meat should legally be considered a product of the country where livestock is processed, not where it was reared.

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And the drying, smoking, filleting, heavily salting of fish, fish livers and roes creates a new product, while standard salting does not.


The chairman has also recommended that the production of coffee creamer, reconstituted and condensed milk from fresh milk and processed cheese from standard cheese do not create a new legal product, while yoghurt production does.


By Keith Nuthall, just-food.com correspondent