Mutual recognition in food supplements

The Regulation on Mutual Recognition drafted by the European Commission allows businesses manufacturing and/or distributing food supplements to legally sell their products and food supplements in their own country and in the member states. This is a major opportunity for growth and internationalization for Spanish companies. However, the mutual recognition principle in food supplements is not being used to the utmost by either the businesses or the administrations. Some of the aspects pointed out in the Mutual Recognition Regulation are the following:

• Any food supplement sold in another member state can be sold under the same conditions in another state even when in that destination state the country’s technical requirements are not met.
• Nevertheless, the country can limit, restrict or prohibit the sale of a food supplement through the principle of protecting the health or the interests of consumers, suitably justifying it before the European Commission.

In Spain, the distribution of food supplements is virtually impossible given that the country only permits the use of vitamins and minerals listed in Annex I of Royal Decree 1487/2009 of 26 September on food supplements. This is why, to be able to distribute a food supplement in Spain, it is necessary to apply the principle of mutual recognition in food supplements. Through this principle of mutual recognition in food supplements, if a company accredits that it is selling the food supplement in another European Union country, in Spain they cannot prevent its sale in keeping with the free movement of goods in Europe. The internal market encompasses a border-free internal domain in which the free movement of goods is guaranteed in compliance with European Treaties, which prohibit measures with an effect equivalent to quantitative restrictions on imports. Said prohibition includes any national measure that may directly or indirectly, actually or potentially, hinder intra-EU trade. This is why, when we are about to notify a food supplement in Spain, we have to attach to the documentation a certificate of free sale from another European Union country, which will accredit that the product is sold in that country. Currently, at LegaleGo Nutrition consultancy on food security we are notifying in almost all European Union countries: Ireland, Belgium, France, Italy. Greece, Croatia, Poland, Germany, Portugal, etc. Depending on the product’s composition, on the urgency to sell and on the Autonomous Region where it will be sold, at LegaleGo we advise in which country it is best to notify. We specialize in the principle of mutual recognition in food supplements. If you are a food company and wish to sell your food supplements in a European state but are doubtful about the acceptance process for recognition, at LegaleGo Nutrition we will resolve your issues without any obligation whatsoever.