On Thursday 27 April, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that member states may ban the marketing of dietary supplements on the grounds of public health if the nutritional content exceeds the maximum daily dose as laid down by national law, as long as a procedure is in place for companies to apply for authorisation to sell dietary supplements.
The company Noria Distribution is facing legal action for having sold vitamin and mineral-based dietary supplements in France with quantities above the maximum laid down by French law, even though the same supplements are produced and sold quite legally in other member states.
In its judgement (C-672/15), the Court finds that an obstacle to trade within the EU may be justified for public health reasons as long as French law provides for a procedure allowing companies to obtain authorisation to sell their dietary supplements containing nutrients at doses higher than those authorised. In this case, however, French law does not provide for such a procedure, so the obstacle to trade within the EU is not justified.
The Court has also asked the High Court of Perpignan to verify whether the methodology used in France allows maximum quantities of vitamins and minerals to be set on a case-by-case basis and following an in-depth scientific risk assessment. Under the directive, the scientific risk assessment must take account of all reliable scientific data. It may not therefore be based solely on national scientific opinions if recent and reliable international opinions concluding that higher nutritional limits may be set are also available. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)