Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether negotiations of the UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement will include the alignment of regulations on herbal remedies and nutritional supplements.

Legislation relating to food supplements is within scope of the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement.

The term ‘herbal remedies’ may refer to herbal medicinal products or herbal products. Traditional herbal medicinal products are regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. The regulation of herbal medicinal products is not within scope of the SPS agreement.

Herbal products do not fall within a single regulatory category. Some herbal products may be regulated as food supplements and some others as herbal medicinal products. Whether a herbal product falls within medicines or food supplements legislation depends on its composition, presentation, and intended use, and is assessed on a case-by-case basis.