On January 24th 2017, the new Royal Decree on the manufacture and distribution of food supplements containing herbs or herbal preparations was published, adapting the RD of August 29th 1997. The main change concerns the addition of many botanicals from the BELFRIT list: the harmonized list of admissible plants in food supplements, as jointly defined by BELgium, FRance and ITaly.
In the new Royal Decre
e, the number of authorized plants has been increased from 645 to over 1.000. Additionally, maximum levels and mandatory warnings have been added for several herbals. This should help encouraging and facilitating the free movement of supplements based on herbal ingredients in the EU, also ensuring at the same time a higher level of protection for consumer safety.
The Royal Decree factored in a transition period, allowing food supplements that do not comply to sell through up to two years after the decree came into force.