13 January, 2021

Teleicare. How to market a food supplement in France

Are you thinking of marketing a food supplement in France? In this post we will inform you about the procedure that supplement companies have to know about the declaration of food supplements before expanding their business to the French-speaking country.

Regulation

The regulation of food supplements in France depends on the Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Repression of Fraud (Direction générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des fraudes, DGCCRF), so you should contact this body to make the registration declaration.

The declaration can be made by ordinary mail, but since 2016 it can also be done electronically through the Teleicare platform.

Necessary information Teleicare

As stated in article 16 of French Decree No. 2006-352, the registration declaration must be accompanied by:

1. Importing manufacturer identification
2. A model of product labeling
3. Documents and information that make it possible to certify that the substance, plant or plant preparation for nutritional or physiological purposes is legally manufactured or marketed in another member state of the European Community or the European Economic Area.
4. Useful data to assess the substance to be declared.

Term

As soon as the DGCCRF receives this complete file, within a maximum period of two months it will contact the company to inform it if it can market the product and under what conditions. If, on the contrary, there is no response within that period of time, it would be considered a marketing authorization.

The refusal of authorization can be for two reasons: due to the absence of documents or information referred to above, or due to scientific evidence issued by the French Food Safety Agency that shows that the food supplement in France poses a risk to health. Likewise, the DGCCRF will invite the declarant to comment on said denial.

Product modifications Teleicare

It should be noted that each declaration refers to the first placing on the market of a food supplement. Therefore, any modification of the product will be considered as a new product that will have to be declared again.

It is also important to mention that two products with the same composition/active ingredients, but available in two different forms – for example, capsules and tablets – must be the subject of two independent declarations. On the other hand, if you only change the packaging – for example, a box of 60 capsules and another box of 120 capsules – a single declaration is sufficient.

At LegaleGo Nutrition, as a food consultancy, we are experts in the management and legal procedures for marketing food supplements in other countries, including the member countries of the European Community.