AT VOTE: Repeal "On Expiration Dates" [Complete] [Complete]

Repeal "On Expiration Dates":

Description: WA General Assembly Resolution #149: On Expiration Dates (Category: Social Justice; Strength: Mild) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: The General Assembly,

COMMENDING General Assembly Resolution #149, On Expiration Dates, for seeking to ensure safety among consumers of perishable goods;

DISAPPOINTED, however, that GAR#149 states, in relevant part:

CHARGES any distributor of any necessity to attain an accurate and average prediction of how long each and every necessity that they distribute will last until it degrades to a level of quality at which it will directly "lead to the deprivation of any sort of bodily activity that is required for the extension of [one's] lifetime;"

NOTING that the resolution in question is flawed, inasmuch as it only requires that products display how long such a product lasts on average before spoiling, while failing to require the above said items to display the date in which the product was manufactured;

REGRETTING that such a loophole renders the entirety of the resolution useless, and even detrimental, as it allows manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to deceive consumers as to when the product is to expire;

FURTHER NOTING that GAR#149 requires all items, regardless of whether an expiration date is necessary or practical, to display such labels on the products;

BELIEVING the aforementioned resolution to be irrevocably flawed;

Hereby,

REPEALS General Assembly Resolution #149 "On Expiration Dates."

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mcmasterdonia:

I really don't see how an international standard of dates would facilitate trade. Trade would occur regardless

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Mousebumples:

mcmasterdonia:

I really don't see how an international standard of dates would facilitate trade. Trade would occur regardless

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Further, if we're dealing with food, it's possible that tech levels in different nations may result in different expected expiration dates in NationA and NationB. Not to say that that can't be accounted for when prepping, say, a bushel of apples for international trade, but that almost seems to complicate things further.

*shrugs* I'm a NatSov individual myself, as many of you no doubt already realize, and I don't really see why we need international law on this subject. I personally think that national law (which can cover imports, of course) is sufficient in this arena.

*hopes that this post won't be considered overstepping*

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Informational Review by the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs::

This is an informational review of the GA Resolution-At-Vote, "Repeal "On Expiration Dates"" published by The North Pacific's Ministry of World Assembly Affairs for your convenience and consideration.

“Repeal ‘On Expiration Dates’” is once again a repeal lacking a lot of argumentation, it revolves around two arguments: (i) one clause is not specific enough to require an expiry date; it only requires an average length of expiration without a specification of when the product was manufactured and (ii) the resolution requires expiry dates on products that don’t necessarily need expiry dates.

On the first point, it’s really a matter of opinion, more so than a clear fact that the clause does not achieve what it set out to do. Essentially, the clause says, that any recipients of a good must be informed “how long the good that they are receiving lasts by the distributor of said good”. A semantic person may successfully argue that this simply requires knowing how long on average this good will last, without a specification of a date from which it was manufactured. The Ministry believes this is simply word-splitting and not necessarily correct, since the clause can equivocate and also imply an expiry date. It is however, unclear, granted.

On the second point, this is patently false. The resolution, by definition, only applies to materials for consumption that will degrade in quality – de facto, anything and everything that needs to be marked with an expiry date.

Some have argued that it is simply not the place for the World Assembly to be mandating expiration dates; that this poses a case of gross micromanagement. Others may argue that standardization is a key roadblock towards freer food trade that needs to be overcome and expiry dates are an important factor in trade when one considers the time that its takes to transport food internationally. Likewise, it could pose a serious health risk to national populations for companies and governments to cut corners and hide expiry dates – often these sorts of short-cuts affect the poorest and disadvantaged of society, such as recipients of international food aid and even your local food bank. For an example, a UN Food Truck in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti caused an angry mob to form when it was distributing biscuits that had expired two years previously. Mistakes like these erode confidence in international food programmes in areas where they are already considered suspicious whether or not their existence can mean the difference between life and death.

In real life, the Codex Alimentarius Commission has stipulated that a “date of minimum durability” should be included on goods intended for consumption; a “date of minimum durability” is essentially a “Best Before” indicator which is different than an expiry date, since eating a foodstuff after its “Best Before” is probably satisfactory, simply not ideal. The Codex Alimentarius Commission reports to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization. So it is safe to say that the initiative in GA#149 is not as wacky and unprecedented internationally as some commentators suggest, but perhaps it would have been better off included in a full resolution on food fraud which the Codex Alimentarius Commission is more focused on and that’s definitely an international issue that can greatly affect trade and consumers.

Overall, The Ministry agrees with the repeal insofar as it could have been written much clearer when the subject matter was so narrow and so technical. In the future we would recommend to authors to try to ground their resolutions in perhaps a larger topic such as “food fraud” and motivate the resolution with some strong international subject like food security, protecting the poor or free trade – whereas, GA#149 seems to be stuck in a bubble, suggesting regulatory policies in an international institution without a lot of grounds to do so.

The Ministry of World Assembly Affairs has (1) thus recommended that the delegate vote "FOR" Repeal "On Expiration Dates", and (2) calls upon all member-states in The North Pacific (that's you!) to carefully consider the viewpoints expressed in this informational statement. Thank you.

Yours,
Unibot
Minister of World Assembly Affairs in The North Pacific.

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