Eight more WHO Member States have provided official responses indicating their satisfaction with the way that Nestlé implements the Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes in those countries. This is part of the on-going monitoring initiative that Nestlé launched in 1999 (see the first edition of the Action Report).

The countries - Senegal, Gabon, Belize, Dominica, Barbados, St Lucia, Mauritius, and Tonga- take the total number of countries reporting satisfaction with Nestlé implementation to over 60. For example, the Ministry of Health in Mauritius "confirms that the policy of Nestlé concerning the marketing of breast-milk substitutes is in line with the International (WHO) Code for the Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes."

The response from the Health Ministry of Gabon is particularly noteworthy, as there have been allegations in the past about Nestlé's marketing practices for complementary foods (cereals). The letter states that 'after seeing the various articles in the press and on the Internet, and having conducted an inquiry about them, it is my pleasure to pass on to Nestlé the congratulations of the Directorate-General for Health for respecting the various ministerial instructions.'

These letters will be part of a future update to the World Health Organisation on progress of the monitoring process.

A First Step, not an End

The current Nestlé process of 1) presenting its policies to each government 2) asking for any evidence of wrongdoing and 3) making corrections where needed, is simply a first step and a stimulus for what Nestlé hopes will be a strengthened monitoring process with each government.

As our July 1999 Report to the WHO Director General pointed out, Nestlé favours strengthened government monitoring, with NGOs and industry cooperating in a process with governments. We favour a process where verifiable information on allegations is submitted by NGOs and other parties, companies can investigate the alleged infractions, and corrections made where necessary, under the watchful eye of each government. (The WHO Code gives governments the responsibility for monitoring compliance with the Code, and asks NGOs and industry to cooperate with the government to this end.)

The current monitoring process has the advantage that it deals with the official government entity responsible for overseeing the Code. However, the strength of government response is dependent on how much monitoring the government itself does and how much verifiable information each government receives from NGOs and others. This varies among the responses received from the 60+ governments, from governments, which have formal monitoring bodies to governments, which simply state they "are unaware of violations".