As goes Europe, so goes the world?

On April 5, 2005, the Advocate General's office of the European Court of Justice issued an opinion that the European Union's (EU) Food Supplement Directive is "ill-designed and grossly insufficient." The Advocate General's opinion represents the final legal review of this piece of EU legislation before its ban on unapproved vitamins and minerals goes into effect August 1, 2005. The European Court of Justice - the EU's highest court - agreed to review the controversial legislation in January 2004 as a result of lawsuits filed against the legislation by various European dietary supplement industry groups.

Three-fourths of vitamins and minerals currently marketed in Europe - including MSM, natural forms of vitamin E, a key form of folic acid, several forms of vitamin C, and minerals such as vanadium, silicon, and boron - would be banned by the Food Supplement Directive. Opponents argue the ban has no scientific justification and does have the support of leading European scientific and medical experts. Opponents also believe this initial legislation will lead to future bans covering plants, amino acids, and enzymes.

The Advocate General's office, which advises the judges on the European Court of Justice, essentially agreed with the Directive's opponents, noting that several basic principle of EU law were not taken into account when the law was passed. The Advocate General's office concluded that, "the EU has seriously failed in its duty to design such a far-reaching measure with care," and recommended that the high court - which is expected to rule in July - declare the Directive invalid. While not binding, legal opinions issued by the Advocate General's office carry significant weight with the EU's highest court.

It is widely believed within the dietary supplement industry that the outcome of the EU's Food Supplement Directive will affect supplement regulation worldwide. For example, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, scheduled to meet in Rome in July, will consider the draft standard for vitamin and mineral supplements composed by the 2003 Codex nutrition committee. The dietary supplement industry is generally supportive of the current Codex draft standard, and is hopeful that rejection of the Food Supplement Directive by the European Court of Justice will strengthen the case for adoption of the current draft standard.