Is Melatonin legal in Latvia?

Formal status

There is no EU-harmonised rule for melatonin in food supplements. The question is governed nationally, and member state positions range from a prescription-only classification to caps of several milligrams.

Latvia governs food supplements by a national regulation in force since 2015. A supplement may be placed on the Latvian market if it has been notified to the food and veterinary service and entered in the supplement register, and if it is presented as a food and supplied to the final consumer only pre-packaged. The regulation sets maximum permitted amounts only for vitamins and minerals; it names no maximum for melatonin, and no Latvian instrument names melatonin at all.

Melatonin also exists in Latvia as a registered medicine, but that does not foreclose the food supplement route, and melatonin supplements are notified, registered and openly sold.

Do we sell here?

Not at the moment.

Latvia sets no national maximum for melatonin in food supplements, and Latvian pharmacies openly sell own-brand melatonin at close to twice the 1 milligram dose in our Sleep formula, without prescription.

Melatonin is not the reason we do not ship to Latvia. See our CBN page for Latvia for the fuller country picture.

Outlook

Latvia's position on melatonin supplements is settled and unremarkable: a notification and registration regime with no substance-specific ceiling, and an open retail market well established around it. There is no indication of a national cap being introduced.

The thing to watch is EU-level rather than Latvian. Several member states set caps at or below 1 mg, and any move toward harmonisation would set the figure for everyone.

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Cabinet Regulation No. 685 sets the requirements for food supplements in Latvia, requiring notification to the food and veterinary service and entry in the supplement register, and setting maximum amounts only for vitamins and minerals

Ministru kabineta noteikumi Nr. 685, Latvijas Vēstnesis Nr. 242