A food major, famous for its infant milk formulas, Nestle, has announced that it has implemented the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. According to a recent statement from the CEO, Peter Brabeck, Nestle has begun a new monitoring process with governments around the world to ensure compliance with the WHO code. ``Though infant represents less than 2 per cent of our sales, it is important to us because of the sensitive role it plays in the lives of our customers, especially mothers and children,'' Brabeck says. Infant foods were also the first products of the company, started by Henri Nestle in Switzerland in 1867.The new initiative will be an on-going process of dialogue with governments around the world. ``Our emphasis is on individual countries, because Nestle is a family of individual country-based national companies, mostly medium-sized, which operate with the permission and approval of each national government,'' Brabecksays.
Nestle has begun by submitting an action report on the implementation of the code in over 100 countries in which it operates. The report also contains the approval statements from 54 governments which certify that Nestle is adhering to the WHO code. ``We have asked governments to let us know whether Nestle is violating any of the codes in their countries and also ask them to confirm that Nestle's marketing practices conform to the WHO code,'' says Brabeck.
Governments are asked to inform Nestle of any violations of the code in their country and also review the Nestle's instructions to its own staff for the implementation of the WHO code. ``To date the process of review has been completed in 55 countries and only one has expressed concern about Nestle's code implementation. We are now working closely with that government to get to the heart of the problem and ensure compliance,'' says Brabeck, without naming the problem country.
The Nestle report summarises the results of the first eight months ofthe action that the company has taken since it adopted the WHO code. The first report contains the details of the dialogues with an initial subset of governments and the process will continue with additional governments engaged in dialogue each year, says Brabeck.
The WHO code asks manufacturers and distributors of breast-milk substitutes to play an important constructive role in relation to infant feeding, and to regard themselves as responsible for monitoring their marketing practices to ensure that their conduct conforms to the code.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.