March 15, 2010

Dear Customer,

NPN Information Update:

Natural Health Products (NHPs) refers to a group of products that include vitamins and mineral supplements, herbal remedies, traditional medicines, fatty acids (such as Omega 3, 6 and 9) and probiotics.

NHPs are regulated under the Natural Health Product Regulations, which came into force on January 1, 2004. The Natural Health Product Regulations set out the requirements for the manufacturing, packaging, labeling and importation of Natural Health Products for sale in Canada.

Prior to the adoption of the Natural Health Product regulations, many NHP products (e.g. vitamins and minerals) were classified as drugs and issued a Drug Identification Number (DIN). 

Products that met the definition of a Natural Health Product, including those with DINs, were given 6 years to come into compliance under the Natural Health Product Regulations. During this 6 year period, the Natural Health Product Directorate (NHPD) was to review all products to establish if they were safe and efficacious. Once safety and efficacy were established each product was to be issued a Natural Product Number (NPN) that would be displayed on the label of the product certifying that the product is authorized for sale to Canadian consumers.

Since January 2004, over 40,000 Product License Applications have been submitted to Heath Canada. Today Health Canada is dealing with a backlog of approximately 10,000 Product License Applications (4,000 date pre March 2008, and 6,000 date between March 2008 and March 2010). It is understood that this backlog will take NHPD approximately 24 months to clear, based on their current review rate.

Health Canada is currently in consultation with industry stakeholders to develop an updated risk-based compliance and enforcement plan that will be phased in at a future date. Once this plan is made public we will post it on our Web Site for your educational review.

Swiss Natural Sources’ NPN Status:

At Swiss Natural Sources® our mission for the past 40 years has been to produce safe, effective and high quality products for our valued customers.  Swiss Natural Sources® has 204 products with NPNs.  The remainder has been issued a Submission Number allowing them to be sold in the marketplace as they do not pose a health concern.

As Swiss Natural Sources® receives NPNs, we have a process in place to immediately update our label artwork, and use the new artwork in our next production run. During this transition period, some products that actually have an NPN number granted by Health Canada may be found on Retailers’ shelves without an NPN number displayed on the label. This stock will require a few months to transition through the Retailer’s supply chain.  The absence of an NPN or DIN may also mean the product has not yet been assessed by Health Canada, however, this does not necessarily mean that the product is unsafe.

Please see related document below (“NPN Status Report") for the latest list of Swiss Natural Sources® products that have an NPN or Submission Number.
Please feel free to contact us at 1-800-268-9879 x286 with any questions you may have.

 

Best regards,

 

John Ferris
President  & CEO