Three leading associations will share regulatory and legislative information between officials in the U.S. and Japan, increasing trade between the two countries and making dietary/food supplements more accessible to Japanese consumers.

The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the Natural Products Association (NPA) and the National Nutritional Foods Association of Japan (NNFA-J) will share news of emerging regulations and legislation impacting health claims, food safety, food ingredients and dietary/food supplements, helping both countries to understand how their counterparts are addressing these issues. The intent is also to develop science-based approaches to challenges.

“Emerging research is increasingly supporting the safety and benefits of supplements for maintaining good health and reducing the risk of chronic diseases,” said Steve Mister, CRN president and CEO. “Regulatory approaches in both countries should likewise reflect good science to help consumers make healthy decisions.”

“A delegation of CRN and NPA scientists and executives from member companies will return to Tokyo this summer,” said William Rahn, NNFA-J president, “to meet with Japanese industry as represented by NNFA-J.”

The associations will establish a working group or a cooperation committee and plan to discuss concrete measures for an effective alliance.
 
David Seckman, NPA’s executive director and CEO said, “CRN, NPA and NNFA-J also will again meet with officials at the concerned authority to renew our call for permitting consumer-friendly, science-based health claims on supplements.” CRN and NPA also will highlight recent U.S. FDA regulatory efforts aimed at ensuring food safety and consumer protection.

“We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with CRN and NPA to facilitate this exchange of information as cooperation like this will certainly contribute to addressing issues surrounding the dietary supplement market in Japan,” said Mr. Rahn. “We are also planning to send a delegation from Japan to Washington later this year.”