China most likely to be affected by 2011 EU herbal medicine ban
December 30th, 2010 - 2:07 pm ICT by ANILondon, Dec. 30 (ANI): The European Union has decided to go ahead with its ban of herbal medicines, a majority of which is manufactured in China.
Hundreds of herbal remedies will be banned from sale in Britain next year. From May 1, 2011, traditional herbal medicinal products must be licensed or prescribed by a registered herbal practitioner to comply with a EU directive passed in 2004.
The directive, according to The Independent, was introduced in response to rising concern over adverse effects caused by herbal medicines.
The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued more than a dozen safety alerts in the past two years. Herbal practitioners say it is impossible for most herbal medicines to meet the licensing requirements for safety and quality, which are intended to be similar to those for pharmaceutical drugs, because of the cost of testing.
According to the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH), which represents herbal practitioners, not a single product used in traditional Chinese medicine or ayurvedic medicine has been licensed.
In Europe, around 200 products from 27 plant species have been licensed but there are 300 plant species in use in the UK alone.
The ANH estimates the cost of obtaining a licence at between 80,000 pounds and 120,000 pounds per herb.
Under EU law, statutorily regulated herbal practitioners will be permitted to continue prescribing unlicensed products. But the Coalition Government and the previous Labour administration have delayed plans to introduce a statutory herbal practitioner register.
This means thousands of patients who rely on herbal treatments face being denied access to them.
Medical organisations, including the MHRA, have warned the measures may drive patients to obtain herbal medicines over the Internet - where risks are much greater.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said no decision had been made on a statutory register of herbal practitioners. (ANI)
- Hundreds of herbal medicines to be banned in UK next year - Dec 31, 2010
- Consumers warned about herbal weight loss pill - Feb 03, 2011
- No EU blanket ban on ayurvedic medicines: Azad - Aug 02, 2011
- Buying herbal products can be harmful - Aug 09, 2011
- Traditional Chinese medicines carry toxic compounds - Apr 16, 2012
- Tapping Gujarat hill station's herbal wealth - Aug 29, 2011
- First Chinese herbal drug to enter EU market - Apr 19, 2012
- Doc in Australia banned from practising after bizarre sexual examinations - May 28, 2010
- Kerala to streamline medicinal plants production - Dec 19, 2011
- Obesity drug withdrawn over heart attack, stroke risk - Jan 22, 2010
- World's largest medicinal botanic garden in China - Dec 09, 2011
- Kerala mulls tax concession on ayurveda medicines - Feb 13, 2012
- Himachal promoting herb culture: Dhumal - Feb 04, 2012
- Herbal compound triggers kidney failure, cancer - Apr 10, 2012
- Curb deceptive marketing gigs: Court - Jun 20, 2011
Tags: being denied access, china hundreds, chinese medicine, coalition government, healthcare products regulatory agency, herbal medicinal products, herbal medicine, herbal medicines, herbal practitioner, herbal practitioners, herbal remedies, herbal treatments, labour administration, medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency, medicines and healthcare products regulatory agency mhr, pharmaceutical drugs, plant species, pract, traditional chinese medicine, unlicensed products