Organised by the International Alliance of Dietary Supplement-Food Associations (IADSA), the event will focus on a review of the current Russian regulations on vitamins, minerals and other dietary supplements.
Key issues to be examined include registration procedures, voluntary certification of dietary supplements in Russia, and labelling requirements. In addition, the event will look at regulations on distribution of dietary supplements in the country, forthcoming legislation, quantity restrictions on ingredient dosages, the use of genetically modified substances, and alcohol-containing dietary supplements.
"Russia's market represents a unique source of opportunities for dietary supplement companies, but there is currently little understanding of their very developed and complex regulations," said David Pineda, IADSA's manager of regulatory affairs.
"Russian officials are aware of this problem and are keen to help foreign companies better understand the process and get dietary supplement products into the market."
The Russian government first started regulating its biologically active supplements market in 1998, declaring all dietary supplements and parapharmaceuticals part of food industry.
Sales of supplements in the country currently make up 38 per cent of the $1.8bn (€1.3bn) Eastern European nutritional market, according to a survey conducted by the Nutrition Business Journal and IADSA.
Between 2005 and 2006 alone sales in Russia grew by 16 percent. Foreign brands, however, currently make up just one third of that market share, said IADSA.
The IADSA workshop, Dietary Supplements in Russia: Regulation, Registration and Certification - Mastering the approval processes, is set to take place on September 13 in Washington DC.
Speakers at the workshop will include senior officials from the Russian Federal Agency for Consumer Rights and Human Wellbeing, Dr Liudmila Simkalova and Dr Margarita Voronina.
In addition, Gregory Temkin, president and CEO of Russian Standard, will explain how to master the regulatory process and avoid pitfalls; Anna Grinchenko, regulatory specialist for Amway Russia, and Lynne Goodwin, technical regulatory analyst at Access Business Group, will give case studies of the approaches their companies took to ensuring product approval, and the lessons that were learned from the process.
