IADSA and CFDA celebrate 10 years of cooperation

The board of International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA), the international organization bringing together national and regional food supplement associations from six continents met recently in Beijing to celebrate 10 years of close cooperation with the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA).

Over the past 10 years cooperation has involved groundbreaking activities including Joint Expert Workshops, the first Global Summit of Government Authorities and extensive information and training activities. In 2011, 20 senior officials from the federal and regional FDAs in China took part in three weeks of training sessions on supplements and related issues in Switzerland as discussions on the future of supplement regulation in China were being initiated.

“We have enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the China FDA as we have in IADSA continually sought to add our international knowledge and expertise and advice to the development of legislation in the country” said Michelle Stout, Treasurer of IADSA.

During a meeting between the IADSA Board and the Vice Minister of the CFDA in Beijing, IADSA was thanked for all their support over the years, with both parties looking forward to another 10 valuable years of cooperation.

“In IADSA” said Michelle Stout, “we try hard to consistently add more and more value in our relationships with government and scientific bodies. We are very pleased that CFDA values their relationship with us as we value our relationship with them.”

The China Food and Drug Administration, former State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), is a ministerial body directly under the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. It is in charge of comprehensive supervision on the safety management of food, health food and cosmetics and is the competent authority of drug regulation in Mainland China.

Founded in 1998, IADSA is the leading international expert association regarding the globalisation of food supplement markets and increasing regulatory challenges. IADSA aims to build an international platform for debate and a sound legislative and political environment for the development of the food supplement sector worldwide.

IADSA has more than 50 members associations, representing more than 20,000 companies worldwide. IADSA is running programmes across the world to support regulatory developments including in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, India, Korea, Latin America and Russia/ Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).