Strengthening control over the production and circulation of dietary supplements

In our section devoted to dietary supplements, the topic of insufficient control over the production and circulation of this category of goods often ran as a red line. Thus, according to the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies, the volume of illegal dietary supplements in the Russian Federation is 50 %. In this regard, an appeal is being prepared to the government with a request to strengthen control over dietary supplements.

The main reason for the appeal is the high proportion of counterfeit products, which may contain potent substances. For example, on the market you can still find "dietary supplements", which include the substance sildenafil. Uncontrolled intake of sildenafil can lead to many negative consequences, including cardiac arrest.

This problem was discussed at a meeting of the subcommittee on the development of the parapharmaceutical industry of the public organization "Business Russia". According to the Izvestia portal, the organization offers:

• introduce control and monitoring purchases by Rospotrebnadzor bodies
• return Sanitary Rules and Regulations in the production of dietary supplements (previously SanPiN 2.3.2.1290-03 Hygienic requirements for the organization of production and circulation of biologically active food supplements (BAS))
• lift the moratorium on the introduction of unscheduled business inspections.

In addition, a proposal to introduce protective duties on dietary supplements from unfriendly countries may be put into circulation. A similar request has already been sent to the Ministry of Economic Development, where it was proposed to set its size at 220 %

In addition to the control measures proposed above, the solution of the problems of the industry will be facilitated by the introduction of mandatory labeling of dietary supplements, which should begin in Russia from September 1, 2023. If you have information about product codes, you can easily track its movement, which will significantly affect the quality of the market.

For more information about the experiment on labeling with individual codes for dietary supplements, as well as about the planned changes to some technical regulations, see another article in our column