Increasing penalties will not solve the problem of poor supervision of dietary supplements

• The government wants to change the maximum fine for violations in the trade in dietary supplements from thirty to one hundred times the average salary to deter dishonest companies.
• However, the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate only examines a small portion of newly introduced products and does not have aggregate data on how many fines are actually imposed.
• Experts and the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) have proposed registration fees that could limit the number of supplements and support the office's budget, but there are no plans for this.

The upper limit for fines for violations of dietary supplement regulations should be 100 times the average salary, not 30 times the average salary , according to the draft amendment to the Food and Nutrition Safety Act and the State Sanitary Inspectorate Act (No. UD247). The Ministry of Health and the Chief Sanitary Inspector are responsible for these regulations.

"The change in the amount of fines is intended to ensure compliance with the Act's provisions by entities operating in the food market. Law and Justice (PiS) authorities should be able to impose effective, proportionate, and dissuasive fines for violations of the Act's provisions," we read in the justification for the bill, posted on the website of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.

The temptation to introduce new supplements shouldn't come as a surprise. A study conducted in July 2024 by PMR Market Experts found that 40% of respondents take supplements daily, and 35% use several types simultaneously. The market's valuation is approaching PLN 8 billion .

But can changing the level of fines actually help? Let's look at the statistics.

According to the register of products covered by the notification of first placing on the market, on average almost 23,000 new dietary supplements were reported to the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS) per year in the years 2020-2024 .

Marek Waszczewski , the GIS spokesman, informs us that in 2024, sanitary-epidemiological stations laboratories examined 3,865 samples of dietary supplements, including:

• 3115 domestic production,
• 455 from EU member states,
• 295 imported products.

Based on the tests, 154 samples were disqualified, with most of the non-compliances concerning only labelling ( 108 ) and other parameters ( 42 ).

Assuming that each sample from domestic production came from a different, previously untested product (GIS data do not confirm this), we are talking about 16.8% of all products reported annually to the Polish register.

Assuming the pace of introducing new products and inspections were maintained, the sanitary-epidemiological station would inspect only 19,300 samples out of 115,000 newly registered products over the next five years.

It's obvious that it's impossible to test every product introduced to the market, given that this isn't the only responsibility of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station. Furthermore, some products are being introduced for the first time in other European Union countries. However, what is the level of enforcement of financial penalties for violations? The Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS) and the Ministry of Health (MZ) are calling for increased penalties, without mentioning the level of detection, so there shouldn't be any problems in this area.

The point is that the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate is unable to say how many fines amounting to thirty times the average salary have been imposed in the last five years for violations of the provisions of the Food and Nutrition Safety Act.

When asked to provide aggregate information, the GIS spokesman said there was no such information.

"The Chief Sanitary Inspectorate does not have data on the amount of administrative fines in individual cases. Decisions imposing fines are issued by state provincial sanitary inspectors," says Marek Waszczewski.

He adds that the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate only receives cases that have been appealed by the parties. And the regulations don't oblige it to collect other information. The Ombudsman provides us with the amount of the highest administrative fine imposed (from nine years ago), but it's of little significance because it didn't even involve a dietary supplement.

Consider a new product registration fee?

What could reduce the number of registered dietary supplements and, at the same time, help the state find a budget for sample testing? For example, Adam Czerwiński , an analyst with the strategy team at the Polish Economic Institute, proposed introducing a fee for registering new products.

The Supreme Audit Office ( NIK) also addressed this issue in a January 2022 report. At the time, it pointed out that the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS) had not completed work on amending the regulations, which would have introduced fees for submitting a notification of introduction to the market ( PLN 1,000 ) and for amending the notification ( PLN 500 ). According to NIK, this, and several other solutions, would have streamlined the performance of officials' duties and strengthened consumer safety.

- At the moment, there are no plans to introduce a registration fee for dietary supplements - concludes Marek Waszczewski, GIS spokesman.

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