ALERT: This Country Will Regulate “Natural Health Products.” Coming Here Soon?

The New Zealand government will now regulate natural health products with the passage of the Therapeutic Products Bill.

“The passing of the Therapeutic Products Bill marks the most significant change to the regulation of medicines, medical devices and natural health products in nearly 40 years,” the New Zealand Ministry of Health stated on its website.

There’s a pressing concern that the legislation will allow the New Zealand government to restrict the use of herbal products that people use to treat infections and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

https://twitter.com/backtolife_2023/status/1683106670832934918

There’s speculation the other “Five Eyes” countries, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, will follow the same course.

BREAKING: New Zealand will restrict the use of herbal products that people use to treat infections and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and the United States may follow the same course.@GeneralMCNews

— jamiemcintyre (@jamiemcintyre21) July 24, 2023

The New Zealand Ministry of Health writes:

As well as replacing and modernising the regulatory arrangements for medicines, the Bill will provide fit-for-purpose regulation of medical devices, and cell, gene and tissue therapies, which are currently not fully regulated.

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The Bill will also cover natural health products. These products will have their own regulations under the Bill.  Followng the Health Committee reporting back to the House, the Government announced an exemption scheme for small scale NHP manufacturers.

The new regime will be flexible enough to support innovation, while ensuring effective control over quickly evolving health technologies.

It will also align with international standards and uphold the quality of regulation currently carried out by Manatū Hauora | the Ministry of Health.

And it will ensure the safety of products used in health care delivery, and support both imports to and exports from New Zealand.

Therapeutic products

Therapeutic products include medicines, medical devices and natural health products. These products are used by New Zealanders in their daily lives, and in all parts of the health system.

While therapeutic products have many benefits there are risks if they are used inappropriately or not for their intended purpose. Ensuring the benefits of therapeutic products outweighs possible harm to consumers is important and underscores why New Zealand needs a regulatory regime for all therapeutic products.

The current way New Zealand regulates therapeutic products does not always meet the needs of consumers, patients, manufacturers or exporters. The Therapeutic Products Bill – which replaces the Medicines Act (1981) and the Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 – will address these issues.

The New Zealand Ministry of Health attempted to quell fears residents would be unable to purchase natural health products.

With the brutality of New Zealand’s COVID regime, it’s highly doubtful the department is being truthful.

Cont. from the New Zealand Ministry of Health:

Natural health products (NHPs)

In 2021, Cabinet decided to regulate NHPs under the Therapeutic Products Bill.

NHPs support health and wellness, and are made from natural ingredients, or synthetic equivalents such as synthetic vitamins. This includes herbal remedies (in the form of capsules, tonics, and skin creams), vitamin and mineral supplements, traditional Māori remedies, traditional Chinese medicine, homeopathic remedies, and some remedies based on animal products, such as deer velvet and fish oil capsules.

Supplemented foods, such as bread or juice fortified with vitamins and minerals, are generally not considered NHPs. They are regulated by the Ministry for Primary Industries. Read more on the regulation of supplemented foods.

The Bill is not intended to stop people buying NHPs, unless there is robust scientific evidence to justify restricting it (eg, certain parts of a plant may be toxic while other parts are fine, or the concentration of a product is too risky at a certain level to be available for general sale).

In developing the new regime, Manatū Hauora has drawn on previous work on NHPs, which included several rounds of consultation and significant input from stakeholders. Stakeholder hui were also held in November 2022 with representatives from key organisations.

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Contrary to some reports on social media and in feedback from submitters on the Bill:

• you will still be able to buy natural health products and you will not need a prescription
• practitioners will still be able to deliver care to their clients.
• there is no list of prohibited ingredients in the Bill, and
• there is no proposal to ban common herbs and spices used in cooking.

The impact of the Bill on any particular NHP/ingredient would be determined via secondary legislation, following consultation with stakeholders.

Imogen Wara, a community journalist, expressed concerns about how the Therapeutic Products Bill could impact Rongoā Māori, a traditional cultural wellness practice often called Māori medicine.

Check this out regarding the Maori. https://t.co/jXv3gp7gFP

— Mona (@AmericanEpilog) July 23, 2023

From Consumer:

“The Natural Health Products section and other parts of the bill are not fit for purpose in a lot of ways. The bill fails to recognise Rongoā Māori as a taonga and therefore protected from Crown intervention and regulation,” Margaret told Consumer.

Margaret believes the bill, as it currently stands, criminalises rongoā Māori. Penalties for breaching the legislation will vary depending on the nature and circumstances of the conduct – from infringements and fines to imprisonment. However, if there were to be considerable penalties for rongoā Māori and practitioners this could influence how the practice may be perceived and tolerated over time.

“The Crown has an obligation under Article Two of Te Tiriti o Waitangi to protect Māori rights to Tino Rangatiratanga (sovereignty), over our own Taonga Tuku Iho (cultural property), of which rongoā is one.”

Associate Minister for Health (Māori) Hon Peeni Henare also asserted this before the announcement earlier this week. He said that the Crown has an obligation to actively protect rongoā Māori under Te Tiriti.

We won’t know how rongoā Māori will be regulated until the bill is passed. Yet, in our view, the lack of disclosure about procedures at this stage shows there is not enough being done to reassure rongoā practitioners.

Assurances that Te Tiriti will be considered, that guidelines will be developed through future legislation, and that there will be opportunities to appeal regulation decisions can come across as a way to dismiss concerns when we are yet to see any evidence of how these things will be implemented.

None of these things that Manatū Hauora have expressed demonstrate how the regulatory process will work, what criteria will be considered when hiring the regulator, who will make up the review panel, or how regulation will be executed.

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At the time of writing this, the select committee is going through submissions made by the public regarding the bill. While this could lead to positive changes regarding rongoā Māori, it also may not.

Based on what rongoā practitioners are vocalising, there is clear demand for a section in the bill dedicated to the protection of rongoā Māori and a clear indication of how this will be achieved.

Hon Peeni Henare identified that with Parliament’s focus on Te Tiriti, they have consulted with a variety of rongoā practitioners through Te Kāhui Rongoā, a national collective of rongoā Māori healers, and other groups.

Margaret believes the issue is not a lack of consultation, but that the Crown simply aren’t listening.

“I believe the Crown already know what rongoā Māori practitioners think, [our] views haven’t changed… It is like making a law about medicine and not listening to doctors.”

Margaret left us with this. “I would like to see rongoā Māori free from intervention, interference and exploitation by the Crown and others – that’s the outcome I would like to see.”