The Minister of Economy and Trade in the caretaker government, Amin Salam, and the UNICEF representative in Lebanon, Edward Beigbeder, signed a joint action plan for the year 2024 as part of the collaboration between the two parties.
The plan includes two main aspects: the first is to activate the implementation of the Iodine Salt Law by setting up mechanisms to enhance producers' ability to comply with the law and developing control procedures to regulate this sector. The second aspect aims to regulate the healthy food environment, with an emphasis on organizing the marketing of unhealthy food to children.
To activate the Iodine Salt Law, mechanisms will be established to enhance compliance capabilities among producers and monitoring through the development of quality control procedures by the Ministry of Economy and Trade and salt producers in Lebanon. Joint workshops will be held to build capacities and enhance the capabilities of employees, salt producers, and national laboratories. An agreement was also reached to conduct an analysis of the supply chain for iodine-fortified salt in Lebanon to identify necessary measures to improve the quality and coverage of iodized salt in the country.
Regarding the second part of the agreement related to child nutrition and the regulation of unhealthy food marketing to children, the following points were included:
- Assessing the food and nutrition environment while focusing on marketing strategies targeting children across various platforms (stores, media, etc.).
- Promoting consumer behavior towards healthy nutrition and child feeding to prevent the burdens of malnutrition.
- Developing necessary regulatory frameworks and legislation aimed at regulating the marketing of unhealthy food to children from the perspective of children's rights.
