CRN Targets RDA Based Maximums and EU Claims

WASHINGTONEuropean Union (EU) health claims regulation and various national RDA-based maximum levels for food and vitamin supplements may be in violation of agreement under the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to new analyses conducted by the law firm Sidley Austin LLP, on behalf of the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN). The trade group is sharing these reports with the public in an effort to convince regulators to consider the potential impact of these regulations. The issue will be the focus of the CRN-International (CRN-I) scientific symposium, Nutrition Issues in Codex: Health Claims, Nutrient Reference Values and WTO Agreements, which is scheduled for Nov. 11 in Germany.

The analysis on EU claims found potential violation under the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). Based on the analysis, it is the application, not the language, of the EU claims regulation that would violate TBT, because it would be more trade restrictive than is necessary to prevent misleading claims.

On RDA-based maximum levels for food and vitamin supplements, the analysts contend such levels should follow the Codex Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplement Guideline, finalized in 2005, and be based primarily on risk assessment, and not on the RDAs.  According to the report, many countries still use RDAs as the basis for nutrient limits, while other countries treat vitamins and minerals as drugs hoping to skirt the Codex guideline.  The analysts noted WTOs TBT and the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement both require risk assessment as the basis for restrictions on international trade

The analyses are available on the CRN International website.