Representatives of the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA in Portuguese) have warned about the poor quality of dietary supplements available in the national market. According to them, this sector leads the list of complaints regarding health violations and has a high number of disapproved products.

Representatives from both the agency and the supplement industry were interviewed by the Consumer Protection Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. For the companies, the solution lies in self-regulation and adherence to established legal standards.

The supplement sector receives the highest number of complaints regarding health violations, as stated by Renata de Araújo Ferreira, the inspection coordinator at ANVISA. Between 2020 and 2025, 63% of the investigations initiated by the agency involved these products. She emphasized that more than half of the complaints are related to misleading advertising of supplements sold on digital platforms, which complicates monitoring and oversight.

Renata Ferreira reported that ANVISA intends to employ artificial intelligence (AI) tools to expedite the identification of irregular products online. She confirmed that this technology has already been utilized, resulting in the removal of over 230,000 advertisements, approximately 60,000 of which were related to dietary supplements.

The Consumer Defense Commission of the Chamber of Deputies will discuss the quality and regulation of dietary supplements sold in Brazil. This discussion is in response to a request from Deputy Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE).

According to the congressman, the market for dietary supplements in Brazil has expanded in recent years, driven by the pursuit of health, wellness, and physical performance. He states that this increase in consumption has raised concerns regarding the quality and safety of these products.

The Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) has published Regulatory Instruction IN No 336, which modifies Normative Instruction No. 28, dated July 26, 2018, which establishes the lists of constituents, limits of use, declarations and complementary labeling of dietary supplements.

On June 6, the national public consultation of the draft decree “Whereby the sanitary conditions and requirements regarding dietary supplements are established, and other provisions are issued” began. This draft decree corresponds to the comprehensive update of the legislation regarding dietary supplements in Colombia, which seeks to repeal Decree 3249 of 2006 and its amending or complementary rules, such as Decree 3863 of 2008, Decree 272 of 2009 and Resolution 3096 of 2007.
The project is published in the Ministry’s web page and the consultation is open until July 17 at 6:00 p.m.
Some of the aspects to be updated are related to:

• Reference values and maximum tolerable intake levels.
• Specific Good Supply Practices.
• Harmonization of regulatory requirements with the agreements made within the framework of the Pacific Alliance with Chile and Peru.
• Adjustment of the sanitary registration issuance process, making some requirements more flexible, such as the Certificate of Good Manufacturing Practices.
• Definition of a new subcategory of products, dietary supplements for athletes.
• Establishment of minimum conditions for the use of non-psychoactive cannabis in the manufacture of dietary supplements.

All those who are interested in participating in the national public consultation can refer to the following link: https://www.minsalud.gov.co/normatividad_nuevo/forms/allitems.aspx

Comments on the draft decree must be accompanied by the appropriate technical justification during the national public consultation process.

It should be noted that, since this is a technical regulation, this process is just beginning. Once the national public consultation is completed, the comments received will be answered, adjustments will be made to the draft decree, and the required process will continue, which includes several stages such as: international public consultation, proceedings before the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC in Spanish) and the Administrative Department of Public Administration (DAFP in Spanish) on the draft technical regulation, and proceedings before the Legal Department of the Ministry for the issuance of the final version of the technical regulation.

All of the above will allow making the required adjustments to the text, with due technical justification, prior to the implementation of the standard.