Dietary Supplements

Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985
Current regulation food / medicine interface

Importers should decide whether the product to be sold is a food or a dietary supplement. If the product is a dietary supplement then it must comply with the New Zealand Dietary Supplement Regulations 1985 with regard to composition and labelling requirements. The Food Act 1981 also applies to dietary supplements.

Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985

The Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 define what a dietary supplement is, states the maximum daily doses for some vitamins and minerals, lists food additive permissions (eg, preservatives, flavourings and artificial sweeteners) and labelling requirements. As with other foods, it is the importer’s responsibility to ensure their products are safe and comply with the legal requirements.

Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 – New Zealand Legislation website

Regulation of Food in New Zealand

Therapeutic claims are not permitted on dietary supplements. Only products that have received consent from the Minister of Health under the Medicines Act 1981 may be legally sold with a therapeutic claim. If you wish to make therapeutic claims on a dietary supplement you should contact Medsafe (contact details below) for further information on this.

Medsafe: New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority website

The Association of New Zealand Advertisers (ANZA) has a useful guideline on therapeutic claims. Refer to the ANZA Guideline No. 01 - Therapeutic Claim/Purpose at the link below.

ANZA Guideline No. 01 - Therapeutic Claim/Purpose: Association of New Zealand Advertisers website

Current regulation food / medicine interface

Other obligations

If you want to import food dietary supplements into New Zealand, you must comply with all the relevant legislation.

In New Zealand, food is regulated under the Food Act 1981 and delegated legislation under that Act. Food cannot be sold that is unsafe, unfit for human consumption or contaminated.

You will find more information about your obligations in relation to importing food in the importing overview.

Importing overview

You will also need to check Biosecurity requirements as they apply to your product.

MAF Biosecurity website

Dietary Supplements