FOOD SUPPLEMENT MINISTERIAL NOTIFICATIONS

Food Supplements Ministerial Notifications

Many European countries require Ministerial Notification of food supplements and other special foods before they are placed on the market

European legislation on food supplements

In Europe, the food supplements market is regulated by DIRECTIVE 2002/46/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 10 June 2002 “EUR-Lex – 32002L0046 – EN – EUR-Lex (europa.eu)”.

Article 10 states that in order to facilitate effective monitoring of food supplements, Member States may require the manufacturer or the person responsible for placing the product on the market in their territory to inform the competent authority of such marketing by forwarding a sample of the product label.

These practices are not adopted by all states, but many member states have developed internal regulations to codify notification operations by means of specific portals or procedures that allow stricter control of the products.

Procedure di notifica ministeriale nei diversi Stati

Procedures sometimes differ depending on the applicant; in fact, foreign applicants, although part of the union, have different procedures from applicants whose registered office is in the same country as the notification.

In Europe, 23 out of 27 member states require ministerial notification of products to the competent authorities (e.g. Ministry of Health) through certain procedures before placing products on the market

Some countries such as the Netherlands, Slovenia, Austria and Sweden do not require a ministerial notification procedure. Just outside Europe, the United Kingdom also does not require ministerial notification.

What do ministerial notification procedures involve?

Some notification procedures involve sending certain documents by e-mail, which usually correspond to a copy of the label and the list of substances.

Other Member States, on the other hand, have gone further by creating notification portals that are often difficult to understand and have very precise filling-in rules.

Each notified product after inclusion is usually reviewed by the competent authority, which can decide whether the information provided corresponds to the product category or not, and if it does, they can decide on changes to the label or composition or to request withdrawal of the product from the market.

Fee for placing products on the market

In addition to previous requirements, some states require the payment of a to placing products on the market: i.e. Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Slovakia, Spain, Finland, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Malta, Portugal and Romania.

Advisory service on ministerial notifications

If you would like to use my consultancy service for issues relating to ministerial notifications for special foods throughout Europe or Italy, please contact me via the form on this page, or write to me at info(@)angilericonsulting.com.