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IATA has communicated its position regarding air cargo and the Environment on the basis of the following principles:

• Recognizing the customer supply chain typically combines modes of road, rail, air, sea, IATA welcomes cooperative multi-modal action based on agreed standards to reduce CO2 emissions along the whole supply chain.
• The Food miles concept (i.e. the distance food produce travels from producer to consumer) is flawed. It is neither a reliable way to measure the carbon footprint of such produce nor does it account for social impact in developing countries.
• Carbon labels, when based on proper metrics, may help in providing consumers with relevant information about the climate impact of products.

The IATA Cargo position has already been used as a basis for lobbying, e.g. response to Food Miles activity by retailers, and also response to UK Soil Association proposal to wind down import of perishables to UK via airfreight.