Products normally retain their original labels, but they must have complementary labeling showing the importer or distributor’s name and address, taxpayer identification number (NIT), country of origin, a translation of ingredients, and any applicable sanitary registration number (as with prepackaged food).  There are more specific regulations regarding the required components of labeling and packaging, in particular food products, wine and alcohol, and tobacco products.  Please refer to SENASAG (https://www.senasag.gob.bo) for those guidelines.  The “Act to Promote Healthy Eating” law imposes additional regulations of marketing and labeling of processed foods and nonalcoholic beverages.  Among other things, the law states that all processed foods and nonalcoholic beverages must now be labelled with a chart that lists the levels of saturated fats, added sugars, and sodium.  The law also introduced a color-coded labelling system, by which consumers will easily be able to determine whether a product is “very high in,” “contains a moderate amount of,” or is “low in” saturated fats, added sugars, and/or sodium.  The Ministry will annually review the quantitative parameters for high, medium, and low content.  After publishing the parameters, food producers will have 12 months to begin complying with the updated labeling requirements.

Processed food packaging must also display one of the following messages: “consume iodized salt, sugar, and fats with moderation,” “the consumption of fruits and vegetables improves your health,” “perform at least 30 minutes of daily physical activity,” or “drink ten glasses of water per day.”  Products containing trans fats must display an additional warning with the words “contains trans fats” inside a red hexagon.  Foods and nonalcoholic beverages in their natural state such as raw sugar, salt, and oil are excluded from these labeling requirements.  The packaging of products for human consumption must list all ingredients and nutritional information.

All foods that are produced, manufactured, imported, and commercialized inside the country which contain or are derived from genetically modified organisms (GMO) are obligated to show a notice that they were transformed.  The food’s package should show a red triangle symbol with the letters GMO and a legend stating that the product contains genetically modified materials.