With the regulations published in the Official Gazette numbered 32169 and dated April 20, 2023, comprehensive amendments were made to the legislation on the use of health claims for food and food supplements and the use of nutrition claims. Thus, the Turkish Food Codex Regulation on Nutrition Claims under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the Regulation on Health Claims for Food and Food Supplements under the authority of the Agency, has entered into force. The Turkish Food Codex Regulation on Nutrition and Health Claims, which previously included regulations on nutrition and health claims has been repealed.
In this framework, since health claims to be used in food and food supplements are different in nature, it is appropriate and long-awaited by the sector that they be subject to a separate legal regime from nutrition claims and regulated in detail in a special regulation and that the executive authority of the new regulation be vested in the Agency under the Ministry of Health.
However, with the new regulation, the process of obtaining prior administrative authorization for the use of health claims has been abolished and they can be used without an application for authorization or notification to the Agency, provided that they comply with the provisions of the regulation and guidelines. On the other hand, on January 16, 2024 the Agency announced on its official website that, despite the abolishment of the administrative permission process for the use of health claims, requests for opinion regarding health claims have been received from companies and that, in order for the Agency to evaluate these requests, a fee of TRY 1,208.19 (approximately EUR 37) will be charged for each health claim evaluation as per the 2024 Fee Tariff.
In addition to these developments, on December 11, 2023, a draft law was proposed to the Commission on Agriculture, Forestry, and Rural Affairs to amend Law No. 5996 on Veterinary Services, Plant Health, Food, and Feed. The draft law stipulates that food supplements in a pharmaceutical form containing active pharmaceutical ingredients and food supplements for particular medical purposes will be authorized and inspected by the Ministry of Health instead of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; they can only be sold in pharmacies, and that production, import and export controls of these products will be carried out by the Ministry of Health.
In light of all these developments, it can be seen that the administration has taken steps in 2023 to clarify that the Agency is the competent administrative authority for the marketing of food supplements with health claims.
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