A reasoned opinion has been sent to Spain, urging it to remove discriminatory practices that affect the marketing of food supplements.
According to Spanish law, when a company first places a food supplement on the market, companies based in Spain must notify the local authorities. However, companies from other EU countries must apply to the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AECOSAN), which leads to higher costs.
According to European food and nutrition law expert Luca Bucchini of Hylobates Consulting, notifications by EU-based companies to the central AECOSAN agency cost more than €900 per product, while a Spanish firm notifying local authorities would generally pay a maximum of €200 – though often local notifications are free.
“For example, an Irish business needs to spend €18,000 to register and sell 20 food supplements in Spain; a Spanish business may have to spend zero to do the same thing,” Bucchini told us. “This is a significant competitive advantage, and against single market rules.”
According to the European Commission press memo, Spain has two months to notify it of new measures that remedy the current ‘discriminatory’ situation.
“The Commission thus considers that the Spanish requirements restrict the free movement of goods (Article 34 TFEU) as these discriminate against businesses based in another EU country,” said the Commission in a press release memo.
If new measures are not implemented, the EC may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the EU, it said.
Bucchini told us that Spain has shown resistance to previous calls asking it to change the system, as they claim it is a result of their regional set-up.
“But it would be easy for Spain to allow EU-based companies to register products with the regional authority where they first sell, so they would be an equal footing with Spanish competitors,” he suggested.