The IADSA
Where next? 2020-2025

Towards better regulation and policy
for healthier lives

Introduction
This document provides the direction of the Alliancefor the coming five years and the foundation for theannual IADSA workplans that will define activities.
IADSA remains committed to ensuring global markets
are open, vibrant and successful. We also recognise
the important role of the food supplements sector
to work towards better regulation and policy for
healthier lives.
IADSA will continue to work together with regulators,
policy makers, the scientific community and across the
Alliance to achieve this.

Review of
2015-2020

IADSA Where next? 2020-2025

Over the five-year period IADSA activities
have particularly focussed on:nDeveloping resources and concepts to create thefoundation for policy recognition.

nAdvising and supporting members on their regulatory
programmes and tactics regarding specificchallenges or opportunities.

n

Exploring and developing new structures to engage
with government.

Some highlights of 2015-2020 period include:nHelping to protect the status of botanicals and build ascientific/regulatory rationale for botanical supplements.

n

Seeing the finalisation and implementation of the notification
system for certain categories of food supplements in China.
While not a perfect system, this is still a significant change
which is so locked into a deep registration model.

nHelping rescue the Turkish market from the cliff edge andthen building with the regulatory bodies a new viable system.

nDeveloping a Health Supplement and Nutraceutical Resource
Centre with the Food Safety Standards Authority of India thathas built a sound positioning as a trusted body for advice andguidance on regulation, education and science in this area.

nLaunching the first Mind the Gap series to communicate ina simple way complex information about the role and valueof supplementation.

The 2015-2020 plan was
split into five workstreams
Some illustrations of the progress made.

IADSA Where next? 2020-2025

Priority A
Refocus our communication
There was a clear need to ensure that IADSA communication wasstronger and more consistent. Significant milestones have beenachieved, including the following :nNew, consistent recognisable branding.

n

A new website launched in 2018 that repositions theexpertise and role of the Alliance and allows easy accessto our resources.

n

The first global surveys for the membership by themembership. These have proven extremely helpful to identify
trends and needs but have also opened up new ways to
explain our needs to governments.

n

Recognising that not every member is able to attend
the Annual meetings which are so important for sharing
information and strengthening the IADSA community, IADSA
Connect was launched. This allows members to shareknowledge and experience and have an opportunity toaddress what is going well, what is maybe not going well, andthe member activities to address it.

Priority B
Expanding our network of regulators and scientists
Our contacts and relationships with regulators and policy makers
at all levels have continued to develop. These range from thosewriting the legislation to high level officials, such as European
Commissioners or the CEO of the Food Safety Authority of India.
IADSA is not a scientific body, but an organisation that promotes
the work of the scientific community to achieve better regulationand policy. Over the past five years we have facilitated discussion
between scientists and between scientists and regulators on
issues of growing importance.
Work is also underway to scope out the science around thelink between supplementation and productivity, an issue thathas been raised by policy makers looking at how to tackle thechallenges of healthy ageing and the impact on the economy.
Despite all the work that has been done over the years, foodsupplements remain a mystery for many scientists in many
parts of the world. In order to start to address this, an IADSA
session was held at the global meeting of Nutrition Societies,
the International Conference on Nutrition, that is held every
four years.

IADSA Where next? 2020-2025

Priority C
Broadening and deepening awareness of supplements
Significant steps forward have been taken on health care costsavings studies by some member associations over this period
and these have allowed IADSA to start to build a global picture of
the significant economic contribution that the category can bringthrough a wider use of specific supplement ingredients.
In order to help stimulate more national initiatives, the IADSA
Grant was created in 2017 and this has delivered a wide
diversity of projects in Vietnam (2017), Colombia (2018) andSouth Africa (2019).
Four Mind the Gap stories have now been launched this year,
covering vitamin D, omega-3s and folic acid, and the feedback
within IADSA and outside has been very encouraging. There isgreat enthusiasm from member associations to continue moving
this work forward and to translate and promote what has been
produced already. This has created a positive stimulus for future
discussion on the integration of supplements in policy. There isgreat enthusiasm from member associations to continue moving
this work forward and to translate and promote what has been
produced already. This has created a positive stimulus for future
discussion on the integration of supplements in policy.

Priority D
Sharing authoritative expertise and knowledge
IADSA publications have been made more accessible forgovernments and members through the Resources section on
the IADSA site. The range of tools has also been expanded toinclude GMP self-assessment, Tolerances and Stability Testing for
Shelf life.
In order to help facilitate the work of our members, a notification
tool to help consistent and appropriate implementation of healthsupplements regulation across the ten Member States of ASEAN
has been developed.
Government bodies also have considerable needs. To respondto these, we have developed tools and databases just forgovernment use, some of which they also take a role in updating.
A new guide was also developed for the membership to provide
an introduction to working with authorities for those who are
new to government engagement work in the supplement sector.

Priority E
By being ambitious
Our target was for IADSA documents to achieve more
recognition by governments, in effect to become standards
for government. It has been rewarding to see that in Latin
America, Brazil’s ANVISA has used the IADSA stability guide as areference in their legislation, and in Argentina the government
has referenced the review of the safety of vitamins and minerals
in their legislation. In India, documents developed by IADSA are
being co-owned by the government through ReCHaN. In the
Botanical Roundtable, a range of documents have been approvedby regulators.

IADSA Where next? 2020-2025

What are the learnings fromthe 2015-2020 period?

1

We must not underestimate the power of economics.
As in industry we are often forced into being reactive anddefensive. But the sheer size and speed of the industry
means that we can be attractive to many in government
for what we can bring to the economy to support jobs,
growth and innovation and offer potential solutions tosome of their policy challenges.

2

We need to keep an open mind and be flexible about thetype of partnership with government that will work ineach country. There is no single route, but there is always
a route.

3

The food supplement sector has considerable expertise,
but it is not evenly spread across the world. We need tofind ways to build and maintain experts who can explain
often complex issues to decision makers.

4

Everyone is overloaded. Complexity is everywhere.
Making things as simple as possible and delivering
messages attractively is key to gaining attention andachieving buy-in.

Looking ahead
The coming 5 years

1

Maintaining the momentum
for improved regulation

Our work in Codex
For the past twenty years, Codex has beena major asset for the supplement sector,
establishing sound rules and principles
that have subsequently been applied inlegislation across the world or have been
helpful to prevent governments taking a
restrictive approach to regulation.
Many governments are keen for Codex
to resolve their national regulatory
challenges. As we have seen over the
past two years, new initiatives impacting
supplements are being tabled. Suchinitiatives pose the risk of destabilising theregulatory landscape that has been built
over many years.
Our goal in Codex is therefore to continue
to complete work on outstanding
topics such as the colours permitted
in supplements, but to resist new,potentially problematic initiatives for the
supplement sector.
In order to be successful in the above theAlliance will need to demonstrate that
we are a supportive and valuable partner
for Codex, and its parent bodies FAO and
WHO, in achieving their objectives.

IADSA Where next? 2020-2025

Codex has recently adopted its new
Strategic Plan for 2020-2025. IADSA will
therefore support these bodies in theirwork specifically by helping deliver their
Objective 3 that is aligned well with IADSA
objectives. The goal of this objective
is to increase the impact of Codex
through the recognition and the use of
Codex standards. This includes raisingawareness of Codex standards, supporting
initiatives to enable understanding andimplementation/application of thesestandards and to recognise and promote
their use.
IADSA was the first internationalorganisation to develop a guide on theapplication of Codex to a specific sector,
and one of the very few in the food area tohave a range of expert tools and guidance
documents to help governments in theirregulatory work. IADSA will continue
to promote this knowledge throughinnovative routes over the five year period.

Our regional work
IADSA will continue to engage at thenational and regional level where ourexpertise, knowledge and experiencecan add value and help shape a better
regulatory and policy environment.
It is therefore expected that our work
will include primarily:nSharing global perspectives and bestpractices on regulatory models.

nOwning the debate in criticalareas including botanicals, claims,
and definitions.

n

Identifying the weaknesses andstrengths in regulation.

n

Guidance on how to address national orregional challenges and opportunities tocreate regulatory and policy change.

Our work is expected to continue in areasthat have been a focus over the past five
years, including ASEAN, China and India,
as well as in countries and regions thatwill be identified as new priorities.

2

Building understanding of the supplement
category, its value and its needs

Support for the supplement category
and therefore the right regulation andpolicy starts with understanding. This
is often what regulators, scientists andother decision makers and influencers
are missing. IADSA will therefore continue
our long-standing activities to build thecase for the sector and communicate thisto influential groups.

IADSA Where next? 2020-2025

Budget permitting, this will include:n

Mind the Gap: continuationof the Mind the Gap series ofcommunications and their translation.

nPublications: including scientific,
technical and economic.

n

IADSA 360: an annual regional
educational event for bothgovernment and industry.

nTraining Modules: developmentof generic training modules for
specific groups, such as pharmacists
and dieticians.

3

Towards alignment with
global policy objectives

Food supplements can play a significant contribution in helping people achieve healthierlives. However, this is not adequately recognised. It is therefore important that wecontribute to the work of the leading international bodies that are driving the debate
on nutrition, health and wellbeing policy to achieve visibility and recognition. Suchbodies have established plans and targets. IADSA will work towards the policy goals that
resonate with our priorities.

A. United Nations
The United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) are now
widely used across government and,increasingly, in industry. IADSA will focus
primarily on the following goals:n

SDG 3 Good health and wellbeing:ensuring healthy lives andpromoting wellbeing
SDG 3 goes to the heart of our sector
and the potential role supplements
can play. Food supplements should berecognised as a leading contributor to
wellbeing in the health area.

n

SDG 8 Decent work andeconomic growth
The supplement sector is projected
to continue to grow and surpass the
OTC pharmaceutical sector by 2024
(Euromonitor 2019). This growth has
been noted by many governments,
some of whom wish to benefit
from the investment of responsible
innovative companies. More dataon how we contribute to economic
development will be necessaryin addition to existing researchon productivity and healthcare
costs savings.

B. World HealthOrganisation (WHO)The WHO has established six Global
Nutrition Targets to be achievedby 2025. While many of these arefocussed on some of the world’s
major health challenges, such as
controlling malaria, one target for which
there is an acceptance of the role ofsupplementation is in the reduction of
the prevalence of anaemia. Throughcooperation with partners, IADSA shouldplay a role, even if small, in helping
deliver this objective.

IADSA Where next? 2020-2025

C. Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development(OECD)The OECD brings together 36 highGDP member countries with the goalof stimulating economic progress andworld trade. The organisation does nothave the global reach and influence ofthe WHO, but it is highly respected andhas been carrying out some importantand innovative work in the areas that link
to wellness, wellbeing and sustainable
societies. IADSA will therefore seek toengage with the OECD in areas such as
their Better Life Initiative.

D. Nutrition Societies
Nutrition societies and their members
represent a key group of stakeholders.
Both have a direct and indirect impact
on the supplement industry throughtheir influence on research, policy
and education.
As organizations they lobby forfunding for nutrition research, develop
frameworks for nutrition science andpolicy directly or indirectly affecting
the supplement sector and promote
education initiatives.
Society members individually andcollectively include regulators and/or experts who advise government
for a range of purposes including
regulatory advisory committees,
nutrition policy committees, and“Best practices” committees.

In 2017 IADSA held a session on
supplementation at the global conferenceof the nutrition societies, the International
Congress on Nutrition, to initiate
discussion on the role of supplements.
Our goal is now to continue to build our
profile and credibility with this audienceand where possible find common
areas of interest on which we canengage jointly as organisations or withindividual scientists.

Visual illustration of
our work 2015-2019

Our publications

ScientificTechnical

Concepts of Health
Maintenanceand Promotion:
Integrating
Nutritional and
Botanical Products

Tolerances for foodsupplements: An
introductory guide

Nutritional risk
analysis approaches
for establishingmaximum levelsof vitamins
and minerals infood (dietary)
supplements

Certificatesof Analysis for
Supplement
Ingredients:
Guidelines on Their
Preparation and Use

Vitamin and Mineral
Safety handbook –3rd Edition

Shelf-Life
Recommendationsfor Supplements

IADSA Where next? 2020-2025

Value of supplementation

The evolution of thehealth supplements
sectorRealisinghealthcare costsavings throughmore widespreaduse of dietary
supplements

Codex alimentarius

IADSA Where next? 2020-2025

Codex alimentarius: The internationalreference for food supplements

English version

French version

Spanish version

IADSA Where next? 2020-2025

Our learning corner

Essential elementsof regulatory
frameworks forfood supplements:
Importance ofphysiological effect

Essential elementsof regulatory
frameworks forfood supplements:
Product notification
and registration

AUGUST 2019

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF REGULATORYFRAMEWORKS FOR FOOD SUPPLEMENTS

FOOD SUPPLEMENTDEFINITION –IMPORTANCE OF
PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTJUNE 2018

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF REGULATORYFRAMEWORKS FOR FOOD SUPPLEMENTSPRODUCT NOTIFICATION
AND REGISTRATION

Communicating for impact,
engagement and influence –Using the power of storytellingto get work done

COMMUNICATINGFOR IMPACT,ENGAGEMENT
AND INFLUENCE
Using the power of storytellingto get work done

Essential elementsof regulatory
frameworks forfood supplements:
The principles offood supplement
regulations

Essential elementsof regulatory
frameworks forfood supplements:
Food Supplements– Definitions
and regulatory
requirements

Engaging with regulatory
bodies – A guide to
the essentials

JUNE 2018

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF REGULATORYFRAMEWORKS FOR FOOD SUPPLEMENTS

THE PRINCIPLES OF
FOOD SUPPLEMENTREGULATIONSAUGUST 2019

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF REGULATORYFRAMEWORKS FOR FOOD SUPPLEMENTS

FOOD SUPPLEMENTDEFINITION –IMPORTANCE OF
PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTENGAGING
WITH
REGULATORY
BODIESA GUIDE TO THE ESSENTIALSIADSA Newsflash

2015

2016

IADSA NEWSFLASH | December 2015

2017

2018

IADSA NEWSFLASH | November 2017

IADSA NEWSFLASH | December 20162019

IADSA NEWSFLASH | DECEMBER 2018

IADSA Newsflash

IADSA Newsflash

IADSA Newsflash

December 2015

December 2016

November 2017

IADSA NEWSFLASH | July 2019

DECEMBER 2018

July 20192018: Another good year to build the future
Celebrating Global Diversity

The sky has not fallen in!
10 years ago in 2005 the Codex vitaminand mineral supplement Guidelines
were adopted. After many years of
discussion in the Codex Committee on
Nutrition, a single global text wasagreed by the Codex Commission,
which would define the way in which
supplements should be treated in many
aspects of regulation in the future.

But we rode the storm, we
communicated the importance of
science being at the heart ofregulation and over time governments
gradually reached consensus. Thispermitted the adoption of the
Guidelines by all Codex governments,
with the simple number CAC/GL 55 2005

to be a basis for establishing maximum
levels of vitamins and minerals.

Across the world, the development of
supplement legislation can often behighly emotive. The creation of theCodex Guidelines was exactly this.
With some claiming the agreement of a
Codex text would at best destroy thesector and at worst kill people, thiswas a highly charged time. The
accusations against IADSA for our rolein this Codex process by these same
extreme forces were strong; theaccusations against governments werein some cases outrageous in a way wehope we will never see again in our
sector.

What have the Guidelines achieved?
First and foremost they have put ourcategory well and truly on the map in
global regulation. We have had many
attacks across the world on ourcategory since 2005 and Codex has
been a cornerstone of arguments toprotect it.

There were many vocal people outside
IADSA who said the “sky would fall in if
the Codex Guidelines were adopted”.
It has not.

Second, the RDA as a basis forestablishing maximum levels ofvitamins and minerals is now limited toa small number of countries
worldwide. This was not the case then,with many countries limiting foodsupplements to the low limits definedby 100% of the RDA. The Guidelines
made it clear that this was not
permitted and that scientific risk
assessment has

Third, it showed clearly that when asector identifies a challenge globally,as IADSA did at its creation in 1998, byworking together across the world it
was possible to achieve change and get
a positive result.

International Alliance of Dietary/FoodSupplement Associations
International Non-Profit Organisation
50 Rue de l’Association, B-1000
Brussels –Belgium
Tel: +32 2 209 11 55 Website:www.iadsa.org

There are two eternal truths about
regulation in the food supplementarea: it takes a great deal of time andit is hard to make it perfect.
However, there is another truth thatis, in some ways, surprising: That eachcountry tries to create their regulationin their own specific way. Considering
the similarities in food supplement
markets, the common basis of sciencethat underpins most products, and thesimple fact that so many establishedsystems of regulation exist, you would
expect that governments would
broadly copy regulation from eachother. But experience is showing that
this is not the case.
For example, as the details emerge ofthe new notification system for healthfood in China, it is clear that it will be
unique. Despite its goal to create a
simpler route to market that is in place
in a range of countries, there are many
aspects of the approach that have notbeen seen before and some elementsthat will be extremely challenging to
implement. This is not for a lack of
information. The officials in charge
have had more access to information
than just about any other officials on
the planet. There are just so many
approaches that could have been usedin China with international experiencebehind them. But the result is simply
different. It comes from the officials
making the laws fit the specificregulatory and political environment in
China and it is about them wanting todo things their way.

Early on in IADSA's evolution werealised our job was not to provide togovernments a one-size fits all
approach. We recognised instead that
we had to be flexible enough toprovide information to support a
direction, help correct a course thatwas going wrong, and broadly sustain
dialogue and engagement for the longterm. Our task was to offer an a carte
menu of options, while appreciatingthat some of the time governments
would actually like to order somethingwhich was not even on the menu.
As we see a world that appears toincreasingly want to reflect national
identities and differences rather than
any globalised homogeneity, thisapproach is one that is even more
relevant today than ever before.

Over the years, considerable time andenergy has been spent by many in the
sector to educate the regulators whowrite the legislation on foodsupplements: definitions, thecategory, safety, GMP, labelling,claims etc. This investment has clearly
been both important and effective inmany countries as we see a slowly
increasing support for our category, orat least a reduction in negativity.

Happy New Year

2017

Investment has also been made ineducating the scientific community.
However, many factors make thischallenging:- The sheer diversity and numbers ofscientists involved.
- The sensitivity of many scientists
about talking to industry or allowing
them to speak at their meetings.
- Entrenched negative perceptions
about supplementation.

While it can be frustrating to see somuch reinvention and diversity of
approaches, we also need to celebrate
the cultural, historical and politicaldifferences that create this process.
And we need to continue to get betterat playing our part in this evolution.

- The widely held belief that food canmeet the nutrition requirements ofindividuals and supplementation brings
no value.
At the International Congress of
Nutrition in Buenos Aires in October,the size of the challenge ahead wasclear. This event brings together
representatives of the world’s
nutrition societies for a once-everyfour years nutrition week. While somuch scientific information waspresented that clearly makes
supplementation compelling,
supplementation was not oftenInternational Alliance of Dietary/FoodSupplement Associations

In India, after many years of discussion
and revision of drafts, the new foodsupplements and nutraceuticals
regulation is also uniquely Indian.

IADSA NEWSFLASH | September 2015

Talking to the Scientific Community

It is certainly a big leap forward forthe sector, even if it is not perfect at
this point. However, you could not
imagine seeing the same text or even asimilar text in any other major market.

Gridiron Building
One Pancras Square
London N1C 4AG, UK
www.iadsa.org

presented as a delivery form. It was
not identified as the solution, even if it
was the only viable way of providing
the optimum or effective level of theingredient(s).
The IADSA-sponsored session was thefirst supplement-focused event to takeplace at ICN. The goals were modest:
indicating that the supplement sector
is structured, regulated and serious
and that we may have a role to play innutrition and health policy.
As could be expected, the debate was
mixed, but provided some interesting
perspectives on future cooperation
with the scientific community.
As a sector, we invest considerably inscience around product safety, claims
and ingredient/product approval. Thisis vital to obtain market access andprotect that. But in many countries, itis the national, and sometimes regional
nutrition societies, that are key todefining policy. Few, if any,
governments are prepared to go
against the views of their nutrition
community.

today with governments. If we are toshape policy, this will need to change.
The ICN has established itself as aplatform as much to drive policy as
science from within the nutrition
community. It therefore provides aunique role and platform fordiscussion. The potential of ICN issignificant, but only if partnership is
also underway at the national andregional level led by associations andcompanies. The opposition to working
with the supplement sector may
sometimes be intense, but we have
faced such opposition many times
before from regulatory bodies, andovercome it.

International Alliance of Dietary/FoodSupplement Associations
Gridiron Building
One Pancras Square
London N1C 4AG
United Kingdom

Over the past decade, the engagementof supplement companies in the workof nutrition societies has increased.
While it was only major conventional
food companies who were heavily
engaged a few years back, supplementcompanies are now partnering on
projects and supporting activities.

2018 was, in general, another good year
along this path. While quick fixes arealways great to achieve in regulation andpolicy, they are also rare. Most
initiatives come about due to long-term,
step by step, communication andpartnership. In two of the world’s
largest countries, Brazil and India, thereis clear forward momentum. New
ground-breaking regulation in Brazil andthe implementation of new regulation inIndia are significant in global terms but
have not come about overnight. in
China, the creation of the new
government body SAMR potentially opens
up opportunities for a new essentialstage of regulatory change, but it willtake time.

Food supplements can of course notanswer the above questions, but 2018has been a year when the seeds of fresh
thinking have continued to grow amongat least some policy makers that
supplements could and should form partof the armoury of initiatives that canhelp. As national health budgets hit
crunch points, it is inevitable thatgovernments will have no choice but toconsider employing some of these to
keep people healthier for longer.

IADSA Annual Week 2019

China
Actions to steer eCommerce rules

10 Apr - 12 Apr 2019, Sydney Australia
Members can register by 28 February 2019via
http://events.iadsa.org/event/7

IADSA latest publications

Thank you to all the members for yoursupport in 2018 and we look forward to
fresh energy to working with you all tocontinue to build a strong supplement
sector that is respected by government
and the scientific community in 2019.

However, it is not just in the area of
regulation that we see change.
Government policy towards
supplementation is key. While very few
IADSA member associations would say
they are happy with the policy of theirgovernment regarding the supplements,
the building blocks of change are being
developed.

Gridiron Building, One Pancras Square, London, N1C 4AG, United Kingdom
Website: www.iadsa.org

IADSA NEWSFLASH | OCTOBER 2018

IADSA Newsflash

IADSA Newsflash

IADSA Newsflash

September 2015

October 2016

September 2017

The China State Administration forMarket Regulation (SAMR) together
with seven other ministries has
recently issued a notice strengthening
measures on cross border e-commerce.
An inspection campaign will run from
June until November of 2019 with 7
key goals:-

Standardize the qualification of
e-commerce entities. Regulatory
departments will investigate andpunish violations of information
disclosure obligations as specified
in the E-commerce Law. It is also
required to supervise whether ecommerce operators havecomplied with the requirementsof market entity registration;-

Crack down on sales ofcounterfeit and sub-standard
products including food, healthfood and medicines-

Crack down on unfair competitive
behaviour and create a faircompetitive market environment-

Improve the accuracy ofadvertising and create a goodadvertising market environment-

Crack down on other types of
online transaction violations andincrease efforts to rectify theTolerances for food supplements: An
introductory guide
https://www.iadsa.org/resources/39

Codex Alimentarius: The International
Reference for Food Supplements
https://www.iadsa.org/resources/34

International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations
International Non-Profit Organisation

However, there is still a long way fromthe type of engagement that we have

IADSA NEWSFLASH | September 2017

IADSA NEWSFLASH | October 2016

It is becoming clear that time is on ourside, that things will change. This can beseen most clearly with the potential
crisis of the growing ageing population.
It goes to the centre of most societies,
most of which are totally ill-equipped todeal with it. How are we going to keeppeople living in the community and outof expensive nursing homes the state andindividual cannot afford? How are wegoing to keep people working
productively until their increasingly
distant retirement age, so that they canafford retirement and there aresufficient people to pay for those whoare already retired?

The central role of IADSA is to help put inplace the building blocks of good
regulation and good policy for the foodsupplement sector. As associations andcompanies, it is our responsibility toshow leadership for the sector as awhole. Our job is to work withgovernment decision-makers, scientificbodies and many others to shape thefuture.

Regulatory news

However, there are still a number ofcountries for which higher than RDA
levels immediately makes a product a
drug. As we look at these countries,
notably in some African, Asian and
Latin American countries, it isimportant to analyse why thesecountries still maintain such an
approach:
The challenge to change historic RDAbased legislation and the commercial
interests that have developed aroundthis. It is clear that for somecompanies which have build a businessaround drug registration of higher than
RDA levels, opening up theopportunities for food supplements is
not an immediately attractive option.
Defending the status quo is almost
always easier than creating change.
Lack of understanding of Codex andinternational obligations in this area.
While Codex is considered importantby almost all governments, it is hardfor officials to manage and understandthe huge number of Codex texts, whichhave been agreed historically, letalone understand those that are
currently on the table.

Fear of consumer safety problems
emerging due to dangerously high levelproducts being sold unchecked acrosstheir country. There is a fear that
because higher levels are available, allcompanies will formulate to these,even if this may not be desirable froma formulation, cost, marketing
perspective.
Lack of education of consumers. This
is not so much a question of whether
consumers understand the role ofvitamins and minerals and how to fit
supplements into their diet. It is more
a question of insufficient literacy insome parts of the world and fear that
consumers will believe that if one
supplement is good, two is better.
Belief that by permitting higher than
RDA levels they will be contributing toa trend away from eating local foods,
thereby breaking down cultural
traditions. This is summed up best by aperspective of a senior official in Asia
who said that the people in the village
where he came from where healthy
and happy: They did not need
supplements.
It is easy to quickly dismiss many of
the above. But that would be a
mistake, since that will not resolve theoutstanding challenges aroundmaximum levels that exist today. The
issues above are real to the officials
facing them and while it may be one
person who states them, there are very
often many others who share the sameviews. Moving forward to achievescience-based regulation on vitaminand mineral maximum levels requires
not just a clear scientific approach,but also cultural and commercial
awareness. These things don’t get

fixed overnight, but through a processof engagement, education andconfidence building.
When the Codex Vitamin and Mineral
Supplement Guideline comes up for its
20th Anniversary in 10 years time, we
trust that through the work being done
across the world the number ofcountries which still maintain the RDAbased rules will have dwindled to a
few or disappeared entirely.

CCNFSDU

IADSA priorities
37th Session
Bad Soden am
Taunus, Germany
1. Proposed Draft
Additional or Revised
Nutrient Reference
Values for Labelling
Purposes in the
Guidelines on Nutrition
Labelling (Vitamin A, D,
E, Magnesium,
Phosphorous, Chromium,
Copper, Chloride andIron) at Step 4
2. Proposed Draft NRVNCD for EPA and DHA
long chain omega-3 fatty
acids at Step 4

Supporting Great Ideas
As you look across the world at therange and variety of regulatorychange, it becomes perfectly clearthat to be effective in shaping
regulation, an engaged national
association that understands the local
issues and dynamics is key to success.
However, it is often forgotten how
challenging it can be for many who run
associations. While the larger ones
have paid staff to carry out the workand a team of experts to call on for
specific tasks, many are run by one or
two people who fit in the association
work during or after their day-jobs incompanies and who have very small
budgets to work with. Amazing results
have been achieved by many small
associations over the years but it isclear that there is so much potential toachieve more.

IADSA at ICN2017

practice in other parts of the world.
To be awarded the Grant, associations
must demonstrate that their project
has the engagement of their members,
and it is replicable, ambitious andachievable.
The project proposals will be reviewed
by IADSA’s Executive Council and theaward will be announced at the 2017
Annual Meeting in Seoul.
The launch of this Grant is a small but
important step forward. Supporting
member associations in their work withgovernments and other decision
makers and continuing to support thedevelopment of new associations toengage in their markets is vital work
for all of us.

The power of a global network such as
IADSA lies in linking people together,sharing ideas, experience andresource. But there is also anothersignificant element that it can bring.
And that is to help associations to do
great things that would beunachievable without support.

International Alliance of Dietary/FoodSupplement Associations
Gridiron Building

It is with this goal that the IADSA
Project Grant is being launched. The
Grant has been established to provide
support to member associations toachieve ideas that help further build
the credibility of the sector and could
potentially be replicated as best

One Pancras Square
London N1C 4AG
United Kingdom

The 21st IUNS-ICN Congress of
Nutrition has accepted a proposal
by IADSA to hold a session on therole of supplements in nutritionand health at the Congress thatwill take place in Buenos Aires on
15th – 20th October 2017.
The International Congress of
Nutrition (ICN), organized every
four years by the International
Union of Nutritional Sciences,brings together several thousandpeople from across the world’s
nutrition science community. It isa well-recognized forum for theinternational scientificcommunity, which aims to address
the key aspects of nutrition in a
multicultural environment, fromstate-of-the-art reviews to cuttingedge nutritional science.
The IADSA session will be chaired
by Johanna Dwyer, PhD, Tufts
University who will invite, among
others, Jeff Blumberg (Tufts
University), Ligia Martini of Sao
Paolo University and Andrew Shao
(IADSA Chair of the IADSA
Scientific Council) to examine how
the field of nutrition has evolved
and discuss the potential role of
dietary/food supplements inhealth promotion. The session will
also review how the category is
regulated in key markets aroundthe world and discuss thescientific, regulatory and industry
challenges that hamper our
understanding of the role ofsupplements.

Governments are increasingly realisingthat only by partnering with theprivate sector is it possible to ensurethat there is a workable path toconstantly increasing compliance.
In July, IADSA signed a cooperationagreement to establish a Resource
Centre on Health Supplements with theConfederation of Indian Industry, on
the request of the Food Safety
Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
For over a decade the FSSAI has been
looking at introducing new regulationand on 1 January this will take effect.
While there are a few outstanding
challenges in the regulation, it broadly
provides an excellent and secure basis
for the food supplement sector toinvest.

However, regulation can only go so far.
India is a huge and complex federationof states, each with powers regarding
legislation and enforcement. The
country therefore faces significant
challenges in the consistent
implementation of legislation.

Registration now Open
Annual Week London
19 Jun - 21 Jun 2018

And this is where the Resource Centre
can be so important. Its primary goal
will be to produce guidance andsupport for both government bodies
and companies engaged in the market
on how to implement the regulationaccording to best practice.
The first target - establishing guidance
on Good Manufacturing Practice – will
shortly be underway. Others activities
focussing on an Indian Food Safety
Management System for Supplements
will follow.
What is clear is that such an initiative
can only really work if there isgovernment support. But thisgovernment support can only besustained if the quality of such an
initiative remains high.
We look forward to our investment inIndia. We also trust that this will
create a new reference point forengagement with government globally.

IADSA will be holding its 20th
Anniversary in June 2018 in
London, the city where theAlliance was originally founded
and is based today.
We look forward to seeing ourmember representatives at theAnnual Week, to reflect bothon the progress made over the
past twenty years and to lookforward to the future.
The meetings will be held atthe Hilton Tower Bridge.
Please see the Venue section
for a range of hotel
recommendations(http://events.iadsa.org). We
strongly advise you to booksoon since London gets very
busy in June.

Codex is the global food standards
setting body. As such, it develops
standards and guidelines that all its
189 members should adhere to. Wherea barrier to free trade arises, a Codex
measure is taken as a key reference
point in adjudicating who is right and
who is wrong.
At the Codex Nutrition Committee in
November in Berlin, two new
initiatives are being tabled which could
significantly impact elements of the
future global regulatory framework forsupplements. Argentina has put
forward a proposal on probiotics thatwould establish harmonized probiotic
guidelines for use in foods and dietary
supplements. This would, forexample, require government
approved bodies to do pre-testing ofproducts prior to marketing. Egypt has
put forward a proposal to regulate
protein in body building supplements,
although it is unclear what themeasures would involve.
For many years, Codex has beeneffective at developing so-calledhorizontal requirements for foods,
including food supplements. Working
with Codex and its member
governments, we have madeconsiderable progress on the additives
that can be used in manufacturing
supplements, the broad requirements
for claims and many other issues.

http://gkml.samr.gov.cn/nsjg/wjs/201906/
t20190620_302494.html

Rethink Hygienic Physical andChemical requirements
The China State Administration forMarket Regulation (SAMR) is consulting
on a draft Standard for Hygienic
Physical and Chemical Examination of
Health Food. The draft Standard covers
in particular test methods for 25 active
ingredients, the determination ofsolvents’ residue. it also covers thedetermination of stimulants andprohibited ingredients.

17 more health food ingredients tocomeChina is proposing to expand the list ofingredients that can be used in healthfoods that are subject to filing(notification). 17 are considered forinclusion: Menthol,
Galactooligosaccharide (GOS), Fructooligose (FOS), Isomaltooligosaccharide,
Edible sweet potato starch, Magnesium
carbonate, Citric acid, Anhydrous citricacid, Phospholipid,Concentrated
soybean phospholipids, Powderedsoybean phospholipids, Fractionated

http://gkml.samr.gov.cn/nsjg/tssps/20190
6/t20190604_302078.html

Cleaning up
The China State Administration forMarket Regulation (SAMR) is consulting
on the cancellation of 104 regulatory
support documents used by authorities
to help regulate various sectors
including health food, infant formulaand food for special medical purposes.
Among these is the document verified
by provincial food and drug
administrations on the production andsales of health food when theregistration license is valid, or proof ofchanging manufacturer name and/or
address.

The danger of misleading claims
SAMR has released its first batch offraudulent advertisements for 2019 (30cases violating the Advertising Law).
Non- compliance relates mainly to:
Direct statement on health foodefficacy in treating disease(pharmaceutical or therapeutic
efficacy in pathological process);
indication of epidemiological evidence
related to treatment of a disease
and/or the rate of success;use of medical terminology or
terminology used for pharmaceuticalor medical devices
http://samr.saic.gov.cn/xw/zj/201905/t20
190508_293472.html

However, these two new initiatives
raise some specific challenges andquestions about the future direction of
Codex.
§§§Is it the task of Codex to regulate
specific sub-sectors of the
supplement category, in this caseprobiotics and protein
supplements?
If regulation is initiated on one
part of the category, will this not
begin a process of regulation on
all parts?

CODEX NUTRITION
40th session
IADSA Agenda
Berlin, Germany
26 – 30 November 2018
1.

Discussion paper on
NRV-R for older
infants and young
children2.

Discussion paper on
harmonizedprobiotic guidelines
for use in foods anddietary
supplements

3.

Proposed Draft
NRV-NCD for EPA
and DHA long chain
omega-3 fatty acids

4.

Proposal for newwork on the general
requirements forproteinsupplements
intended forbodybuilding

If government-approved testing isrequired for probiotics products,
is there not a risk it will becomea requirement for other products?
IADSA has been engaged in Codex formany years. We have worked hard to
support Codex and its member
countries to achieve results inlegislation that are good forgovernment, the supplement sector
and the consumer.
We now appear to be at a crossroads.
Coordinated work will be required
across IADSA to ensure that
supplement sector interests areprotected.

The IADSA Annual Week was held thisyear in Sydney overlooking Harbour Bay.
Surely one of the world’s mostimpressive locations for any meeting.
This helped contribute to what many
considered one of IADSA’s mostrewarding Annual Weeks so far with aunique combination of discovering new
approaches and skills and being brought
up to speed with the latest in regulatory,
policy and market developments fromacross the world.

What came through loud and clear fromthe three days is that the foodsupplement sector has a great story totell, but that we need to work harderand smarter at how to tell it evenbetter. Progress is being made in
regulation, science and policy. But westill face a lack of understanding of thevalue that supplements can bring toconsumers, particularly among policy
makers.

All who participated went away with arenewed energy to contribute to building
the supplement sector’s shared story tohelp create the most appropriate
regulatory and policy outcomes.
Thanks in particular to our Australian
member association CMA for inviting us
to Sydney and sharing some of the many
great things about Australia with us.

International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations
International Non-Profit Organisation

IADSA NEWSFLASH | July 2016

IADSA NEWSFLASH | February 2019

IADSA NEWSFLASH | JULY 2018

IADSA NEWSFLASH | June 2017

IADSA Newsflash

IADSA Newsflash

IADSA Newsflash

July 2015

July 2016

June 2017

JULY 2018

A new wind is blowing across the world

We appear to now be witnessing awelcome change. In key markets, it isstarting to recognize that the role ofgovernment is not to regulate
businesses out of business but to help
facilitate their role in economic
growth. This does not mean that
consumer protection is not stillparamount in legislation. But it doesmean that economic arguments aroundjobs, growth and innovation are being
heard for thThis campaign has come six months
after the implementation of theeCommerce law aiming to oversee
product safety and optimise thetaxation of Cross-border eCommerce(CBEC) imports.

soybean phospholipids, Transparent
soybean phospholipids, Soybean
phospholipids, Octyl and decyl
giycerate, Curcumin and Fruits andvegetables powders.

Gridiron Building, One Pancras Square, London, N1C 4AG, United Kingdom
Website: www.iadsa.org

IADSA NEWSFLASH | July 2015

For many years the overwhelming drivein most regulation across the world has
been to limit to the absolute minimum
risk to consumers. In the vast majority
of countries any recognition of the rolethat the private sector plays inproviding jobs and economic growth
was absent. This was not unique tothe supplement sector, but was felt ina very intense way due to the wide
range of regulation impacting foodsupplements.

Supervise the implementation of
e-commerce operators’
responsibilities.

IADSA Week Sydney

The Challenge of Implementation
Developing a good regulatory model isoften hard for governments.
Implementing it even harder. In many
countries of the world, the systems ofcontrol and enforcement are notadequately resourced for the job athand. There is often a shortage ofstaff, training and the technical andlegal support to make the regulation
work the way it was intended.

Strengthen online transaction
information monitoring andproduct quality spot checks.

-

May 2019

Codex Alimentarius: At a crossroads?

RDAs to Safety

operation of imports and exportsof cross-border e-commerce.

-

IADSA NEWSFLASH | May 2019

OCTOBER 2018

IADSA’s central goal when it was
founded was to coordinate work in
Codex towards achieving safety based
vitamin and mineral levels globally. It
is now 10 years since the Codex
Vitamin and Mineral Supplement
Guideline was finally adopted and inthat period we have seen significant
improvements across the world interms of understanding the scientificrisk based approach to establishingmaximum levels and also seeing such
safety levels implemented in law.

-

Prague April 2016

26: IADSA Scientific Council(morning session)
26: IADSA event & dinner(afternoon session)
27: General Assembly
Meeting
28: Company Council/
Technical GroupWe look forward to seeingyou!

Global Food Supplement Regulation on Track

Brexit: The journey begins!
In general, political change has only alimited impact on what we do in the
supplement industry globally. Yes,changes of government or a Minister
can make a difference but in general
the margins for change are relatively
small in most countries. However,there is probably no major politicalchange that we have been asked more
about by the members than the UK
decision of June to leave the European
Union.
What is clear is that the EU was little
understood in the UK Parliament andhardly understood at all in the general
population. The past few weeks since
the Referendum have been a bigger
education about the EU for mostpeople than the previous 30 years.
And the education is just starting.
What the UK has taken on now issimply staggering in its enormity.
After a decade of government
ministries being reduced in size, they
now need to take on the biggest task
they have faced since 1945. New trade
agreements need to worked out
worldwide, hugely complex andchallenging negotiations with the 27
EU Member States need to be started
on issues ranging from access to the
EU's Single Market to R&D programmes
to exchange programmes for students.
Somewhere in UK government there
must by now be a list and it must be
extremely long and every day it iscertainly getting longer.

It is very difficult to predict what willbe the result of this process. For astart, many of the key promises madeby the Leave Campaign during theReferendum are, to put it politely,unachievable. How will it play out
when this becomes clear? Second,
there simply are not enough UK
officials or officials with the right skills
to do the work that is required. Thismeans that many hundreds of millions
will be spent on bringing in external
legal and trade experts at a time when
the clients of these external law andtrade companies are needing them toadvice them. Third, the UK media has
seen a surge in circulation during theReferendum. The anti-EU papers inparticular will be longing to engage insome big-time Brussels bashing overthe next few years to keep their sales
up. The British tabloid media has
never played out well on continental
Europe and it promises to be the sameagain. And of course, while all this ishappening, the UK could be losing
Scotland.
What this means for the supplement
sector is far from clear. However,what we can say is that for many years
UK government influence in the EU has
been, in broad terms, a positive
influence. With a generally probusiness approach, the UK input hashelped move a number of important
initiatives towards a positive
conclusion.

With the UK leaving the EU, the UK
influence will not disappear entirely
but it will be dramatically reduced. If
the UK goes in the same direction as
Norway in its relations with the EU, it
will keep an observer role in meetingsof the Member States but no decisionmaking role. The UK will also ofcourse lose its Members of thepowerful European Parliament. On theother hand, the UK has the largest
percentage involvement of scientists inthe European Food Safety Agency of
any EU Member State. EFSA will not
be keen to lose these scientists, atleast in the short to medium term. So,a solution will inevitably be found for
that.
These are huge and challenging
changes for the UK, for UK businessand for Europe as a whole.

International Alliance of Dietary/FoodSupplement Associations
Gridiron Building
One Pancras Square
London N1C 4AG
United Kingdom

IADSA NEWSFLASH | May 2016

An IADSA survey presented at theAnnual Meeting in Seoul has shown thatthe majority of respondents fromassociations (71%) believe that
regulation in their country is moving in
the right direction. While problematic
legislation or elements of legislation
exists in many countries, this result isa good indicator that on balance thesector is being heard and regulators
are responding across the world.
The extent to which the sector feels it
is being fairly treated showed hugevariations across the world with thosecountries that have a close working
relationship with their government
coming at the top of the list. Both
Australia and Singapore have longestablished and open relationships with
their governments which, in general,are supportive of establishing a viable
and workable regulatory framework forsupplements.
In contrast, only 54% of respondents
consider that government policy on
supplementation is moving in the right
direction. Today, too many
governments look negatively on thepotential role of supplements to help
achieve public health goals. Thishighlights the need to boost activities
and investment across the world in thisarea. This was addressed in breakout
sessions of national associations inSeoul to allow ideas to be shared andto help IADSA develop its policy
programme for the coming years.

However, while there is more work to
be done with policy makers, 55% of
respondents consider that the attitude
of policy makers towards supplements
has become more positive over the last
two years and only 14% believe it has
become more negative. This illustrates
that the work that is being done isstarting to gain traction.
The two issues that worry the
supplement sector most are
adulteration and the anti-supplement
media top the list with many
associations also highlighting thefrequent changes in decision makers ingovernment as a major obstacle tomaking progress on both regulation andpolicy.
This IADSA survey "What is the
supplement sector worried about?" isthe first in a series of surveys to help
the global supplement sector define
priorities and benchmark regulatory
and policy progress.

What is the supplement
sector worried about?

Generally speaking, would you saythat regulation for the supplement
sector is heading in the right
direction in your country?

Generally speaking, would you saythat policy for the supplement
sector is heading in the right
direction in your country?

February 2019

The power of knowledge,
experience & ideas

The Priority of Claims

In June, representatives from acrossthe membership, government andscientific bodies celebrated the 20th
Anniversary of IADSA, in London. The
Annual Week provided a unique
opportunity for many who are deeply
involved in creating and shaping
regulation and policy to work together
and learn together.

It is a task of government to ensure that
only fair and truthful claims for
supplements reach the market. Creating
legislation to achieve this is far fromeasy. And many governments across theworld are faced with just this challenge
at present.

London 2018 IADSA week in (a few) pictures

In Turkey, claims have since December
become a new responsibility of the
Ministry of Health who have the task ofdeveloping new regulation. In India,
having collected many examples ofclaims from the market, the FSSAI must
now work out which claims should bepermitted and which not. The European
Commission’s report on claims forbotanicals is expected in June. ASEAN is
considering how to ensure consistent
application across the region of their
Claims Guideline that was adopted in
2014. These are just a few examples ofthe many developments in this area
across the world.

When IADSA was created the world wasa very different place. There werevery few associations in SE Asia, there
were almost no associations in Latin
America and far fewer in Europe than
today. The network of associations
across the world is now widespreadand vibrant.
It is easy to forget that the power of a
global network such as IADSA lies inlinking people together, sharing
knowledge, experience, ideas andresources. Our job at IADSA is tocontinually find new ways to harness
this opportunity and help everyone
move forward.

The issues governments face as they
begin this work can vary widely:As the IADSA community has evolved,
so has our role at IADSA. Yes, we
continue to work directly withgovernment to provide knowledge andexpertise when required. But
increasingly, we see our key role asproviding the resources to help others
achieve their goals.
Gridiron Building
One Pancras Square
London N1C 4AG
United Kingdom

In this context, the IADSA website has
been redeveloped around the Resource
Centre and our goal is to keep adding
tools, information and scientific,
technical, regulatory and policy
documents that can be accessed by ourmembers and by those in decisionmaking roles in government.

IADSA NEWSFLASH | March 2017

IADSA NEWSFLASH | APRIL 2018

IADSA Newsflash

IADSA Newsflash

May 2016

March 2017

APRIL 2018

IADSA: 20 years young
The world's largest ever regulatory
implementation process

Prague Annual W eek
It is hard not to come away from theAnnual Meeting of IADSA in Prague
without being highly optimistic for thesector.
It was not just the presence of so many
trade association and company leadersfrom across the world, all working toensure that the regulation in theircountry or region reflects the specificrequirements for supplements.
It was not just the sheer size of theAnnual Meeting, the largest we haveever had, and the presence of so manyhighly influential decisions makers
from government.
But it was the feeling that the breathand depth of the work of the IADSA
Alliance worldwide, from science totechnical, from regulation to policy,
puts food supplements in a uniquespace and that working together
something special can be and is being
achieved.
Moving away from the regulatory
theme that is core to IADSA's work,
members were fortunate to hear apowerful 3-hour session on potential
value of supplementation. Facilitatedby Andrew Shao, Chair of IADSA's
Scientific Council, Dr. Manfred
Eggersdorfer, Dr. Keith Randolph and
Dr. Adam Drewnowski made the mostcompelling scientific case forsupplements than has ever been madeat an IADSA event. With an additionalpresentation by Christopher Shanahan
from Frost & Sullivan on the global
savings to society from higher intakesof some nutrients and highly
supportive messages from Dr. Oran
Kwon from Korea, there was no doubt
about the key role that supplements

could and should play at the heart ofnutrition and health policy.
The Annual Meeting in 2017 will beheld in Korea, a country with one of
the highest consumptions per capita ofsupplements on the planet. It is also a
country that is investing heavily inunderstanding how increased intake ofcertain ingredients could keep people
healthier for longer, and has managed
to not lose its traditional knowledge indeveloping its modern regulatory
framework. As plans are being made,we will be seeing how we can build on
what has been achieved in Prague tohelp take the food supplement sector
forward.

International Alliance of Dietary/FoodSupplement Associations
Gridiron Building
One Pancras Square
London N1C 4AG
United Kingdom

From left to rightDr. Oran Kwon, Dr. Manfred Eggersdorfer, Dr.
Adam Drewnowski, Dr. Andrew Shao, Dr. Keith
Randolph and Christopher Shanahan

ADSA Where next? 2020-2025

China, India and in the near future
ASEAN are starting the implementation
process of their new legislation thatwill most likely decide the future
framework for marketing andconsumer access to products for morethan 3.2 billion people, over 40% of theworld's population.
China's new regulatory framework forthe notification and registration ofhealth foods is being implemented
from May; India's new regulatorymodel for nutraceutical regulation isdue to be enforced from the beginningof next year; and the ASEAN
Agreement on Health Supplements is
expected to formally begin its
implementation journey next year. If
the Pacific Alliance countries achieve
their goal of agreeing their common
regulatory framework this year, afurther quarter of a billion of theworld's population can be added tothat total. This is a big number andfor both the food supplement sectors
located in these countries and for thesector globally, there is a lot at stake.
While the general direction and muchof the content in the regulation of
ASEAN, China and India is broadly
good, success or not will depend quite
significantly on how this legislation is
implemented in detail. For ASEAN, the10 member states will each take anational approach. Many of theofficials who were involved in thedecision making process at the regional
level are no longer in place, and new
officials and often new government
departments will be taking this on. In

Looking back to 1998

China, while the legislation has beendeveloped at
the national level, the regional FDA
offices remain strong and powerful andthe new approach has partly
decentralised the notification of
products to this level. In India, themajor challenge is likely to arisearound the definitions of thecategories of nutraceuticals and how
they interrelate. While decision
makers in the capital may be clear on
what is a nutraceutical and what is afood supplement, it may be far fromclear that those who are responsiblefor implementation and enforcementin this vast country will necessarily
share this approach. Considering thatthe 29 states also like to exert their
independence from the centre,
everyone in India is prepared forinteresting times.
Over the years, we developed across
IADSA a very strong expertise and trackrecord in advising on the developmentof regulation. What we now see is thatgovernments are looking for new
support for implementation andenforcement. This means help fortraining and capacity for their officials
in the regions; for support in helping
deal with those companies intent onmarketing dangerous products or
fraudulent products; and for help in
raising standards so that governments,
consumers and the sector can be
confident with the quality of products
entering the market. With theopportunities ahead being so
significant, investing in this direction
can only be the right way to go.

IADSA Annual Week
Seoul |16 -18 May 2017

Tuesday 16 May
10.30-12.30
Issue Highlights Session
13.30-17.00
The Value of Supplementation:
Mapping the Nutritional LandscapeWednesday 17 May
08.30-12.00
Meeting of IADSA member
associations
13.30-17.00
Annual General AssemblyThursday 18 May
09.00-15.00
Company Council Meeting
VENUE
Grand Hyatt Seoul

In early 1998, IADSA was formed in
London. This was the first timethat associations from across theglobe had come together to share
information and knowledge in a
structured way. And at that time,
the world was starting to heat up
on regulation in the supplement
field. Some of headlines from thefirst Newsflash from that time:-FAO/WHO Experts to revised
vitamin and mineral requirements-New Japanese regulation on
herbal products announced-Draft Italian law on herbal
products under development-Canadian government Advisory
Panel calls for less restrictive rules
for natural health products-Draft French law on foodsupplements under discussion-Revised Dutch guidelines onclaims published.
-St Johns Wort classified as a
medicine in the UK-US FDA warning on Chinese
supplement ‘sleeping buddha’.

ßMany of the above proposals or
discussions on regulation were‘finalised’, some, such as the
Italian botanical law many years
later. But we also know fromexperience that regulation is neverresolved. A case is just closed fora certain amount of time before it
is reopened, sometimes for the
better sometimes not. The world’s
regulatory environment isconstantly changing and we must
continually work to be better
prepared and better coordinatedto engage and shape that.
At the time, the opportunity of
regulatory change brought about
by the development of Codex
Guidelines on Vitamin and Mineral
Supplements was the key stimulusthat brought IADSA together.
While those hugely important
Guidelines were adopted in 2005,
Codex remains a key part of ourprogramme today.

Register for the event
http://events.iadsa.org

International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations
Gridiron Building, One Pancras Square, London, N1C 4AG, United Kingdom
Website: www.iadsa.org

2018 and beyond
The IADSA Alliance has of course
also evolved. Our network has
expanded significantly. There arealso vastly more associations inaction every day across the world
than the small group of 21
associations who met to create theAlliance in 1998. Tens of thousandsof IADSA scientific, technical andpolicy publications have been
circulated and used bygovernments and the sector in all
corners of the world. And, very
importantly, we have also gained
recognition across government andindustry for our experience andinsights into how to interpret andengage with regulatory change andhow to analyse and manage
regulatory and policy risk.
The Annual Meeting in June will
provide a unique opportunity toanalyse the changes over the past
20 years and forward to theopportunities ahead. We lookforward to seeing many of you in
London.

•The borderline between claims
for supplements and claims for
medicines•

What level of substantiation isrequired for claims or different
types of claims.

•

How to evaluate thesubstantiation data andwhether to establish a scientificcommittee to do this work•

What procedure to establish forthe approval of new claims•

Whether to permit claims per
ingredient or per product

IADSA Annual Week 201910 Apr - 12 Apr 2019, Sydney Australia

And in the background, there is the everpresent challenge for many governments
and industry of how to stop those who
insist on abusing any regulations withoutrageous and often drug-like claims.
Finding the right balance that 1) allows
fair claims 2) that are informative for the
consumer 3) that are based onachievable levels of evidence and 4) still
stimulate innovation in the field of
nutrition requires common sense,
pragmatism and a good understanding of
the category.

Members can register by 28 February 2019via
http://events.iadsa.org/event/7

CMA Innovation Day
Our Australian member association, CMA, isorganising their Innovation Seminar on Tuesday
9 April in Sydney for which IADSA Members will
receive a discount. Please follow this link formore information and to register:
http://www.cmaustralia.org.au/event3232144

IADSA Connect

IADSA
CONNECT

IADSA
CONNECT#04 June 2019#03 March 2019Japan's evolving
health claims
legislation

Where is Latin
America heading?

INDONESIA EMBRACESSUPPLEMENTATION AS UNIVERSALHEALTHCARE COSTS START TO BITE
THE SCIENCE SUPPORTING THE
HEALTH BENEFITS OF EPA/DHAOMEGA-3S IS STRONGER THAN EVER

SEEDS OF OPPORTUNITY: BOTANICALSTAKE CENTRE STAGE AS FDA LAUNCHESNEW SAFETY INITIATIVE
TURKEY'S YOUTHFUL POPULATIONPOINTS TO A BRIGHT FUTURE

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IADSA
CONNECT

IADSA
CONNECT#02 December 2018#01 MAY 2018

New novel foodrules in Europe

New Day for HealthSupplements in India

THE LONG ROAD TO WORKABLE
REGULATION IN SOUTH AFRICA
THE INTRODUCTORYGUIDE TO TOLERANCESONE STEP FORWARD,
ADDITIONAL
ARTICLE TWO
TITLESTEPSGOES BACK
HERE
ShortZealandNew
article synopsis
governments
goes here,
naturaldusam
healthquevenest aute
products
regulations
mo inisque possint.
ANOTHERTHE
ONLINEARTICLEWELLNESSTITLELIBRARY
GOES HERE(OWL):An American
Short
article synopsis
approachgoesto transparency
here, labor aliqui
dusam
and
accountability
que venest aute mo inisque possint.

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