April 15, 2012 Beijing – The 5th Nutrition Industry Forum was organized by the Public Nutrition Development Center (PNDC), which operates under the National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC). NDRC works directly under China’s State Council making it a powerful agency in charge of developing economic and social reform in China. The forum’s aim is to share information on regulations, trends, R & D, CRS activities within China’s developing dietary supplement and overall nutrition industries. USCHPA was invited by the director of PNDC Professor Yu Xiaodong to give a presentation comparing the U.S. and Chinese retail environment for dietary supplements as well as discuss regulatory reform and China’s great potential as a leader in the dietary supplement industry. This year’s event was attended by more than 300 people with representatives from DSM, Abbott, Nestle, New Hope Natural Media, Euromonitor, BASF, NBTY, Tiens, Perfect, By-Health, and a variety of government officials from Ministry of Commerce, Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine, SFDA, etc.

 USCHPA invited the U.S. FDA to attend and give a presentation on U.S.  regulations for dietary supplements. Assistant Country Director (China) Cory  Bryant gave a 20 minute presentation on DSHEA highlighting FDA’s  approach  to placing the legal burden of quality and safety on industry and  focusing their  resources on GMP compliance and market surveillance. FDA’s  presentation was  well received and was a great opportunity to share with  industry the U.S. system.  USCHPA and its members are advocating for China  to adopt a U.S. notification  system rather than the current registration  process. Learn more about current  regulations HERE.

 Above: Professor Yu Xiaodong pictured with USCHPA’s Jeff Crowther

Director General Wen Zaixing from the Ministry of Commerce’s Market Supervision Division noted that consumer confidence in the industry is quite  low  as a result of the many fake, counterfeit, dangerous and fly by night products in the market. He highlighted the recent heavy metal adulterated spirulina products in the market, which has not helped the situation. Wen said lax regulations and poor supervision policies have been taken advantage of by unscrupulous individuals. China is in the process of strengthening regulations and penalties for those operating outside the law. One tool the government will use to fight back will be the creation of a black list to publicly oust illegal players, Wen said. In order to thrive in the China market Wen encouraged companies to get involved in CSR activities. This will bring trust and loyal customers to your brand and at the same time benefit community and environment alike.

USCHPA is happy to be working with Professor Yu Xiaodong and the entire PNDC team. The association sees the cooperation as a long term commitment along the road to industry development.

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