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Vitamin boost to help consumers

Consumers are set benefit from the Department of Health's (衛生署) decision to loosen regulations regarding vitamins, but that may be at the expense of local suppliers due to increased competition from overseas.

The department announced yesterday that it will loosen regulations on daily allowable dosages of over-the-counter (OTC) fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, D and E, before then relaxing rules on OTC water-soluble vitamins including B and C, as well as minerals.

That decision could affect a market worth NT$7 billion annually. The current allowable dosage levels of vitamins in Taiwan are amongst the lowest of developed countries. The department decided to relax regulations to fall in line with the world trend of vitamin usage and to satisfy people's need for vitamins, said a health department official.

At present, the highest daily allowable dosage for OTC vitamin E is 110IU, A is 9750 IU, and D is 600IU. One 110IU is equal to 100 milligrams. Consumers need to get a prescription if they want to get a more concentrated dosage.

Under the new regulations, the daily allowable dosage for OTC vitamins E will be raised to 400IU, A to 10,000IU, and D to 1,000IU.

Taiwanese consumers will be the biggest winners from the loosening of the regulations, said industry observers, with availability expected to increase and prices likely to fall.

Since many prescription vitamins will move into the over-the-counter category, demand in the OTC vitamins market is expected to increase rapidly.

"The huge OTC vitamins market will attract more foreign vitamin manufacturers. And that will make vitamins price drop," said an executive from a multinational pharmaceutical firm.

Currently, Taiwan's vitamins are much more expensive than in the US and Europe, with it being a common practice for people to bring back vitamins when travelling to those countries.

The high cost of imported materials are the main cause of Taiwan's high vitamin prices, said Chang Hsiu Ji (章修績), vice president of the vitamin C manufacturer Purzer (瑞安).

As a result of the changes, competition among vitamin manufacturers will become more fierce. According to an official from China Chemical & Pharmaceutical Co (中化), the profit margin for vitamins is low and the competition is already very fierce.

"Almost all the local pharmaceutical firms produce vitamins," said the official.

The official said that another beneficiary will be the health department's Bureau of National Health Insurance (健保局).

"The bureau will greatly reduce costs because OTC drugs are not covered by the national health insurance scheme," said the official.
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