The Union Ministry of Health, which has proposed to bring out a separate Bill for the regulating dietary supplements as a special category would fine tune the Draft Bill shortly. The Draft, which is circulated for the reactions and recommendations from the industry and regulatory experts would be put forward to the Cabinet Committee for an earlier approval after necessary revisions soon, informed L Prasad, joint secretary, department of Indian System of Medicine, while inaugurating the International Conference on Dietary Supplements- Indian and Global Perspectives organized by Indian Health Foods and Dietary Supplements Association (INHDSA) in Mumbai.

The Indian Health Foods and Dietary Supplements Association (INHADSA), which was founded in April 2002, represents the interests of manufacturers and suppliers of vitamin, mineral and botanical products including organic and health foods, natural ingredient cosmetics, sports nutrition products, herbs and other dietary supplements.

The Conference, however, brought out the general view of the industry about the proposed Bill and also the concerns of the stakeholders including the regulatory system.

Since the government is currently seeking the industry''s input for the Draft on Health Foods and Dietary Supplement Bill to develop an appropriate regulatory framework, the keynote speakers both from the industry and the regulatory authority called for a major overhaul in the Draft. While the industry asked for a decentralized system for product licensing, the officials from the drug regulatory department cautioned that unless the Bill provide necessary legal framework to control the menace of product promotion and a systematic approach to evaluate efficacy and safety of the dietary supplements it would create harm to public health.

At the Conference, Bruce Dennison, vice chairman, International Alliance of Dietary Supplements Associations (IADSA), South Africa/Middle East, and Dr. Roger L. Williams, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, USP Council of Experts gave an overview of DSHEA and associated factors relative to herbals, foods and dietary supplements. Dr. M. Venkateswaralu, Deputy Drugs Controller of India, Mumbai, spoke about the safety considerations of dietary supplements.

Other key note speakers were Dr. Ikhlas Khan, National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, USA, President and future, Dr. D. B. Anantha Narayana, director (R&D), Dabur Research Foundation, Dr. Vishwa Singh, Director, Human Nutrition Research, Roche Vitamins Inc, USA, Dr. John Hathcock, Vice President, Council for Responsible Nutrition Washington, S. W. Deshpande, Joint Commissioner, FDA, Maharashtra.

Ajit Singh, President of INHDSA and chairman, Associated Capsules, delivered the welcome address and Sebastian Thomas of Parry Nutraceuticals, and vice president, INHADSA, said vote of thanks.