Regional Workshop on Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Development of Policies to Eliminate Industrially Produced Trans-Fatty Acids in the Americas, Washington, D.C., 11-12 September 2019

Abstract

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) convened a two-day Regional workshop on regulatory impact analysis for the development of policies to eliminate industrially-produced trans-fatty acids in the Americas in order to discuss pre-regulation analyses that can support and help guide the process to develop an IP-TFA elimination policy. The specific objectives of the workshop included identifying the need to perform a pre-regulation analysis to support and guide IP-TFA elimination policies; discuss possible models for pre-regulation analysis pertaining to IP-TFA elimination policies or similar food-regulatory policies; and define essential elements and information gaps pertaining to the preparation of pre-regulation analyses. Government officials in charge of food regulation, preparation of regulatory impact analysis, and nutrition policies, from Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, and Paraguay participated in the workshop. In addition, staff from the Anaas foundation, CARICOM’s Regional Organization for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), NCD Alliance, Resolve to Save Lives (an initiative of Vital Strategies) (RTSL), and Salud Justa-Mexico also attended the meeting. The first day of the workshop provided technical information on available policies to eliminate IP-TFAs from the food supply and activities related to their implementation. In addition, there was a discussion of key elements needed to prepare pre-regulation analyses to support and guide the adoption of food-related regulatory measures and country case studies related to IP-TFA policies. The second day of the workshop provided technical aspects of the different economic models that may be used to prepare pre-regulation analyses.