WHO ARE WE?

The Industry Interference in Public Policies on Food and Nutrition Hub is a group within the Latin American and Caribbean Nutrition and Health Community and Practice (Colansa). It comprises researchers, legal professionals, and stakeholders focused on conflicts of interest and industry interference across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The Hub aims to promote the discussion on this topic and join forces to manage, mitigate, and prevent industry actions that interfere with food and nutrition policies. 

MISSION

The mission of the Hub is to bring together researchers, policy-impact professionals, and other stakeholders to promote information exchange, share experiences, and strengthen the evidence base related to conflicts of interest and industry interference in public policies on food and nutrition in LAC.

VISION

The Hub serves as a technical reference within Colansa regarding evidence, policy impact, and decision-making related to conflicts of interest and industry interference in public policies on food and nutrition in LAC.

OBJECTIVES

• Systematize cases of conflicts of interest and industry interference in public policies on food and nutrition in LAC, as well as monitor, expose, and evaluate experiences of these interferences.
• Analyze and summarize the available academic experience on conflicts of interest and industry interference, and disseminate this content in an accessible manner to various audiences.
• Develop and implement training courses on conflicts of interest and industry interference in public policies on food and nutrition for different audiences.
• Articulate the expertise of Hub specialists and connect them to a broader network of researchers, policy impact advocates, and decision-makers.
• Address specific information gaps and identify potential academic areas requiring further development in data management, implementation, research, etc.
• Act on mitigating conflicts of interest and industry interference in LAC and produce recommendations for governments, organizations, and researchers on how to avoid them.
• Raise regional actions to promote regional policies combating conflicts of interest and industry interference in public policies on food and nutrition.
• Identify potential funding opportunities for collaborative projects.

GOVERNANCE

The governance of the Hub is described as follows: 

The Hub will be coordinated by representatives from three institutions that are part of Colansa: the Brazilian Institute of Consumer Protection (Idec) from Brazil, El Poder del Consumidor, and the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), both from Mexico. The coordination of the Hub will be renewed every two years, during which members must choose the organizations that will be part of the Hub, with the exchange and election of a new member organization from Colansa replacing one of the current ones, always maintaining organizations involved in policy advocacy and research. Members and constituent institutions of the Hub may apply for the coordination position.

The coordinator’s responsibilities will be to ensure that the Hub holds regular meetings; to plan, coordinate, and/or supervise the execution of activities; to raise, manage, and administer funds; to publicize and communicate the Hub’s activities inside and outside Colansa; to report annually on the activities carried out by the Hub; and to draw up an annual financial report on the use of funds. 

WHO CAN BE A MEMBER?

All members of Colansa, such as students, academics, advocates, and others, can be registered as members. Members are expected to actively participate in the meetings, whether by sharing advances in their research related to the Hub, such as their political or policy impact actions, contributing to the sustainability of the Hub through the search for sources of funding to meet its objectives, opinions on the prioritization of topics and activities of the Hub; support in the external dissemination of activities; the identification of needs and the promotion of possible solutions; and the review and approval of the annual activity report.

It is important to note that the members of the Hub have no links with the ultra-processed food products industry, milk formulas, breast milk substitutes, tobacco, or alcohol, thereby guaranteeing the absence of conflicts of interest. This allows our actions to be free, transparent, and firmly focused on public health.