Welche Art von Zulagen sind derzeit in Deutschland verboten?
Well, germany has the worst law regarding supplements in the EU, the AMG ("medical preparations law").
In short, everything "obviously designed to improve human health or to prevent any disease" has the same
status as a medication. In general, medications are NEVER OTC in germany, even the normal things like
cough syrup can only be obtained in licensed pharmacies... after a mandatory "consultation service from the
pharmacist" according to law... they need a 3+ year education for that... usually they don't counsel you on every
NSAID you buy, but I've heard of pharmacists who refused to sell fiber to girls because they "already look to slim", etc.
Thus, ALL foreign imports of these "medical products" (vitamins and minerals are also specially mentioned in the
AMG) are prohibited in Germany, unless done through a pharmacist officially licensed for importing (who will refuse
doing so:P). German Pharmacy standards roughly equal Codex Alimentarius: the usual vitamin products allowed
do not exceed RDA % and are prohibitively expensive (20 times that of US prices).
Paradoxically, there ARE free vitamin shops inside germany where you can freely order high dose vitamins
and most supplements at moderate prices, but far from everything -- ALL hormones including DHEA and
Melatonin are outlawed, and there are many other restrictions. Also confusing, you CAN order anything
that is available in other EU countries without customs intervening. Whether this is formally legal or not to
order, is unclear (ordering any non-scheduled substances, however, is NOT a criminal offense). Shipments
inside the EU cannot be processed by customs by EU law, so even hormone products can be ordered, for
example, chronically ill people like multiple sclerosis patients order such things from the UK.
So I assume, theoretically, most things not allowed by Codex regulations would not be available in Germany. In reality,
there are many de-facto unclear areas like inside-EU shipments and local vitamin shops which make it possible. But if
you order anything directly from the US labelled vitamin or supplement it will be sent to customs with 90% certainty, then
you'll be notified and can chose if they return it or throw it away. Plus, if you're acting as a business, the attempt could
also mean legal problems as far as I know. Luckily, some few top companies like Life Extension are fully aware of all this
Edited by mixter, 09 November 2008 - 05:47 PM.