NIU’s Global Round-up: TGA postpones overseas GMP inspections, Italian authorities crack down on coronavirus claims, and more

Australia​

TGA postpones over 30 overseas GMP inspections due to Coronavirus ​

Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) revealed last week that travel restriction put in place against the novel coronavirus/ COVID-19 has led them to postpones over 30 overseas GMP inspections.

On March 19, the Australian Government announced a ban on all non-residents arriving into the country. Neighboring New Zealand also announced similar measures on the same day.

In response, TGA said that it had suspended all overseas GMP inspections and Quality Management System (QMS) audits until further notice.

This has led to the postponement of 33 overseas inspections in sites operated by 26 overseas manufacturers.

Manufacturers affected mainly come from Asia or the Americas.

“The COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in travel restrictions affecting planned GMP inspections of overseas manufacturers in China, South Korea, United States of America, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, and Fiji,”​ a TGA spokesperson told NutraIngredients-Asia​.

Europe​

Italian authorities crack down on e-retailer coronavirus claims​

Italy’s Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) has ordered an online retailer to stop using preventive claims against the coronavirus to sell supplement, cosmetic and detergent products.

AGCM stated that it had started an investigation into the activities of the Naples-based website ‘carlitashop,’ and its related Instagram pages, ‘carlitashop_online’ and ‘theCarlitadolce.’

Both pages promote its ‘Supplement Antivirale Manuka,’ that uses the hashtag ‘#coronavirus’ as well as statements describing the product’s antiviral capabilities and efficacy in tackling the COVID-19 virus.

“The adoption of an emergency measure was deemed essential in order to stop the spread of an extremely serious practice, such as to make the intervention of the Authority indifferent,” ​the AGCM says.

“The Authority considers the methods used to promote these products are deceptive and aggressive, as the site takes advantage of consumers’ ability to assess the situation due to the ever-changing increase in the number of subjects infected by COVID-19.”​

For more on this story, please click HERE​​.

Asia​

South Korea re-evaluates 12 functional raw materials, including ginseng​

The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) announced that it will re-evaluate the safety and functionality of 12 functional raw materials this year.

These 12 materials come from two groups, namely those from 1) the pre-defined list of materials and those which have been 2) individually recognized by the ministry after evaluating the safety and functionality data of a particular ingredient as submitted by businesses.

The first group, made up of eight materials, are red ginseng, ginseng, chlorella, difficult-to-digest maltodextrin, aloe gel, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), milk thistle extract, and marigold flower extract.

The remaining four materials include Lyprinol green-lipped mussel extract oil, silk fibroin extract bf-7, APIC soybean embryo hydrothermal extract, and lutein zeaxanthin complex extract from marigold flower.

Findings of the evaluation are expected to be released in December this year.

For more on this, please click HERE​​.