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Permitted Product Removed as Resticted
Hello,
We are a brand registered vitamin/supplement company and have been selling a particular vitamin on Amazon for the past 7 months without issues. Two days ago we edited the title of the listing in order to provide more detail about the ingredients the product contains. The next morning we found that the product had been automatically flagged as restricted and our listing removed. We have contacted support numerous times about this but they keep closing our cases after they send us the same response each time:
"Unlicensed medicines, prescription only medicines, pharmacy only medicines and GSL (General Sales List) medicines containing aloxiprin, aspirin, paracetamol or ibuprofen are prohibited on Amazon.co.uk"
The product in question does not fall under any of these categories (it is a common vitamin supplement), and is completely compliant with UK regulations (We have the documentation to prove this). Additionally, there are a lot of other products available on Amazon with the exact same ingredients and dosages/strengths which are not restricted, so we would appreciate some clarification as to why our product in particular has been flagged as restricted but all of these other products with identical ingredients and strengths are allowed?
We have taken to the forum because we have tried to go via support so many times but it appears that each time the case is closed without actually being read by support staff - I have been on the phone to support for hours and at times it appeared our issue was about to be resolved (one told me it was an internal error which would be resolved shortly; another told me that they would escalate this to the restricted products team), but after each phone call we received the same automated message and our case was closed.
Please can someone from Amazon respond because this is a product category which strongly relies on repeat purchases so we are losing customers every day that this issue affects us.
Kind Regards
8 replies
Seller_TSP4fxzQzOdib
We can see there was another thread last week with what sounds like the same issue: https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/seller-forums/discussions/t/4b1bccdd-cd3c-441c-b10b-8bfa03852511?postId=4b1bccdd-cd3c-441c-b10b-8bfa03852511 - Maybe @Sarah_Amzn @Winston_Amazoncould take a look at this?
Ezra_Amazon
Hey @Seller_TSP4fxzQzOdib,
Are you still having that issue? If so, could you provide the case ID with Seller Support regarding this?
Thanks, Ezra
Seller_TSP4fxzQzOdib
Hello,
The most recent Case ID is 10675220952. We have provided the requested compliance documents as well as a copy of the relevant legislation which lists the ingredient as one which may be used in the manufacture of food supplements, but yet again we have received the same response: "Unlicensed medicines, prescription only medicines, pharmacy only medicines and GSL (General Sales List) medicines containing aloxiprin, aspirin, paracetamol or ibuprofen are prohibited on Amazon.co.uk".
To us it appears nobody is actually reading the evidence we keep submitting. This product is not a medicine - it is a food supplement.
Please can this be resolved soon? We have lost so many sales and customers due to this.
Kind Regards
Seller_TSP4fxzQzOdib
Further to this, the Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has a "guide to what is a medicinal product" (cannot provide the URL since external links are not allowed on this forum) - the following is on Page 18:
Food including food supplements
Regulation (EC) 178/2002, (Article 2) defines a food, or foodstuff as:
“…any substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, intended to
be, or reasonably expected to be ingested by humans……‘Food’ includes drink, chewing gum and
any substance, including water, intentionally incorporated into the food during its manufacture,
preparation or treatment.”
The same Regulation (at Article 2 (d)) also states that a product which is regarded to be a
medicinal product cannot be a food:
“Food shall not include…medicinal products within the meaning of Council Directive 65/65/EEC
[now Directive 2001/83/EC.]”
The (Directive 2002/46/EC) defines food supplements as:
“…foodstuffs the purpose of which is to supplement the normal diet and which are concentrated
sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect, alone or in
combination, marketed in dose form…”
18
The Directive includes a list of permitted vitamins and minerals and their sources and specifies
additional labelling requirements for food supplements.
If you look at Directive 2002/46/EC, the ingredient in our product is clearly listed in Annex II (A) as a vitamin substance which may be used in the manufacture of food supplements.
Seller_TSP4fxzQzOdib
Hi @Ezra_Amazon, any updates on this? The issue has still not been resolved.
Seller_TSP4fxzQzOdib
@Ezra_AmazonI provided you with the case ID but 4 weeks later you (or any of your colleagues) have still not responded.
Seller_qCKjollRTZq1o
Hi,
We are experiencing a similar issue but in a different category. Have been selling our product for nearly 2 years, we did not make any changes to the listing details also. Randomly was flagged as restricted product even though there are almost 100's of this same product still for sale and our product is in no way a restricted product. Kinda stuck, like you say no help from seller support. Same generic answers and replies without any real case consideration.
Were you able to get anywhere with your case? Were Sarah or Winston able to help you out?
I can see from the other thread you posted Sarah was able to get the listing reinstated.
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