U.K. Articles - Vitamin Decision

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,172-1556661,00.html

 

Judge offers hope of reprieve for 5,000 vitamins and health foods

By Sam Lister, Health Correspondent

 

A EUROPEAN directive controlling the sale of some vitamins and other

food supplements, which is due to become law this year, was declared

illegal by a top judge yesterday.

 

The health food rules, which affect thousands of products on sale in

Britain, were seriously deficient and broke basic legal principles, an

Advocate-General at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg said.

 

The criticism by Leendert Geelhoed was hailed as a victory for the

British health food industry's legal challenge to the European Union

directive.

 

Campaigners said that the directive — which promotes a " positive list "

of permitted substances — would have outlawed 300 vitamin and mineral

ingredients, resulting in the removal of more than 5,000 products from

sale. The Alliance for Natural Health said that ingredients under

threat include some forms of vitamin E and vitamin C and minerals such

as vanadium, silicon and boron. Millions of people take these

regularly without any ill-effects.

 

The Food Supplements Directive is designed to tighten controls on the

market in products sold as health foods: natural remedies, vitamin

supplements and plant extracts. The Advocate-General said that the

directive infringed EU principles of " legal protection, legal

certainty and sound administration " .

 

His comments carry judicial weight, but remain only advisory. A final

court verdict on the directive is not due until the summer. In most

European Court cases, the judges follow the Advocate-General's advice.

 

The directive was approved by EU governments in 2002. Health food

manufacturers were given until July 12 this year to submit scientific

proof that their ingredients are safe. Once approved, the ingredients

and products go on the " positive list " of permitted substances for use

in health foods.

 

The plans prompted a petition in Britain of more than one million

signatures, a letter of protest to Tony Blair from more than 300

doctors and scientists and motions opposing the law from both Houses

of Parliament.

 

The British Health Food Manufacturers' Association, the National

Association of Health Stores and the Alliance for Natural Health

argued in court that the law was unnecessary and that the costs of

complying would be prohibitive for many small companies.

 

Robert Verkerk, executive director of the alliance, commended the

Advocate-General for seeing through the " flawed science " of the directive.

 

One third of British women and a quarter of men take health food

supplements in a market estimated to be worth at least £335 million a

year. On the Continent, however, health food products are treated more

like medicines. Mr Geelhoed said yesterday that the idea of

establishing an EU " positive list " was valid, but the directive should

be annulled because it lacked clear rules and norms for the European

Commission to follow when deciding if a product is allowed on the list.

 

" I must conclude the [EU legislature] has seriously failed in its duty

to design such a far-reaching measure with all due care, " he said.

" The directive infringes the principle of proportionality because

basic principles of law, such as the requirements of legal protection,

of legal certainty and of sound administration, have not been taken

into account. "

 

The Advocate-General recommended that the court rule the law invalid,

but Mr Geelhoed backed the directive's aim of improving cross-border

EU trade in food supplements by removing differing national rules on

the composition, manufacturing specifications, presentation and

labelling of such foods.

 

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http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/story.jsp?story=626831

 

Judge overrules Brussels ban on vitamins

By Maxine Frith, Social Affairs Correspondent

 

06 April 2005

 

A controversial EU directive that could ban thousands of popular

vitamin and mineral supplements has been declared illegal by a

European judge.

 

The judgment is a victory for health food manufacturers and retailers

who appealed to the European Court of Justice to overturn the proposed

law.

 

The new rules governing vitamins and minerals are due to come into

effect on 1 August and are designed to improve the safety and efficacy

of products sold by the industry, worth millions of pounds. Only named

ingredients with proven scientific benefits have been included on an

EU " positive " list of approved substances that would be allowed in

health supplements.

 

More than 300 different vitamins and minerals are not on the positive

list, meaning that 5,000 supplements will be banned if the proposals

become law, according to campaigners, who have been led by Carole

Caplin, Cherie Blair's former lifestyle adviser. Popular supplements

that will be outlawed include certain vitamin C brands, some calcium

capsules and copper tablets.

 

The legal case against the directive was brought by the Alliance for

Natural Health (ANH), a Europe-wide association of more than 300

manufacturers, retailers, consumers and doctors opposed to the

legislation.

 

The advocate general at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave an

advisory opinion that the directive, as it stands, infringes basic EU

principles.

 

He said that the current proposals lacked clear rules for the European

Commission to follow when deciding whether or not to include an

ingredient on the positive list. The advocate general's opinion that

the directive is " invalid " is not binding, and the full ECJ will rule

on the case in July, but the court normally follows his opinion.

 

More than 20 million people in the UK spend £335m a year on vitamins

and supplements in the belief that they bolster health and well-being.

One in three women and one in four men takes supplements, and

campaigners said the legislation would lead to inferior ingredients

being used because more beneficial ones had been left off the positive

list.

 

David Hinde, legal director at the ANH, said: " This is a very

significant opinion in a landmark case. What we want to see in the EU

is the food supplements directive doing the job for which it was

created, which is to provide a 'safe harbour' for food supplements so

that they are not classified as drugs, and to promote their

availability across the EU. We are optimistic the ECJ will adopt the

recommendations of the advocate general. "

 

Under the directive, manufacturers could apply for products to be

added to the " positive " list by submitting scientific evidence about

the benefits of the supplements. But the high cost of producing such

dossiers - up to £250,000 - would have meant that smaller

manufacturers and health stores were most at risk from the new rules.

 

Sara Novakovic, the owner of Oliver's Wholefood Store in Richmond,

south-west London, welcomed yesterday's ruling. She said: " At last it

is now highly likely that we can continue to offer the products that

our customers ask for and want, rather than have to remove them all

from the shelves for no good reason and supply them with inferior

quality alternatives. "

 

However, the industry faces a continuing fight against EU legislation

over health supplements and vitamins. The advocate general upheld the

concept of EU legislation on health supplements, saying that the

proposals needed to be reworked rather than scrapped.

 

Further directives on the maximum doses of vitamins and rules

governing herbal remedies are due to be brought in over the next two

years.