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Code progress made with formal monitoring bodies
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Seven countries have, to date, established formal WHO Code monitoring authorities. The WHO has urged governments to adopt such clear and transparent means of Code monitoring and Nestlé has supported their development. Nestlé markets infant formula in six of these seven countries, all of which have verified the company's compliance with the WHO Code.
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The six countries - Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, Zimbabwe, the Philippines and Switzerland - all provided evidence as part of the new monitoring initiative announced in last month's Action Report. All six official statements appear in the document, Nestlé Implementation of the WHO Code: Official Response of Governments, which was recently presented to the WHO Director-General, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland. |
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Monitoring the WHO Code |
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The Code is clear about who has responsibility for monitoring compliance with the Code as implemented in each country. |
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"Monitoring the application of this Code lies with governments acting individually, and collectively through the World Health Organization as provided in paragraphs 6 and 7 of this Article. The manufacturers and distributors of products within the scope of this Code, and appropriate non-governmental organisations, professional groups, and consumer organisations should collaborate with governments to this end." |
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International (WHO) Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, Article 11.2 | |
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Manufacturers are also expected to monitor compliance internally, and third parties are urged to inform manufacturers and governments if they believe the Code has been broken in a particular nation state. However, the Code recognises that it is Governments that must translate the WHO Code into the national legislative and social framework and subsequently monitor compliance. At the 101st Session of the WHO Executive Board in January 1998, the WHO stressed the role of government-sponsored monitoring bodies: |
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"WHO urges that national measures adopted to give effect to the International Code include clear definitions, which are communicated to and understood by all parties; transparent monitoring and reporting procedures to determine whether alleged violations contravene national measures; and a monitoring authority established under government responsibility." | |
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Support for monitoring bodies |
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Nestlé fully supports this recommendation from the WHO and has consistently encouraged governments throughout the world to set up official Code monitoring bodies. If the Code is to be effective, it must be effectively monitored and such bodies provide clarity, fairness and independence as well as supporting dialogue between all parties interested in furthering the WHO Code. Dialogue between the authorities, professional organisations, consumer organisations and industry has ensured a high degree of Code compliance in countries that have established monitoring bodies. However, pressure from interest groups that want to impose their own interpretations of the Code and their own monitoring practices has caused confusion within some countries attempting to establish such bodies. These groups want to exclude industry from dialogue on Code monitoring, whereas governments recognise the need to involve manufacturers in ongoing efforts to clarify and properly implement the Code recommendations. |
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Code clarity, Code compliance |
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When monitoring bodies provide clarity of national code implementation, Code compliance improves and confrontation is minimised. The bodies provide a fair forum in which alleged Code violations can be brought to the attention of governments and companies for examination and, where necessary, correction. |
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| Manufacturers are expected to monitor compliance internally, and third parties are urged to inform manufacturers and governments if they believe the Code has been broken in a particular nation state. |
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