17 June 2011

The New Zealand natural products industry has welcomed the Government and Green Party’s announcement on the introduction of legislation for the regulation of natural products.

Michelle Palmer, Executive Director of Natural Products New Zealand says that the industry has been working towards this for some time and believes it will bring benefits to both manufacturers and consumers.

“A strong and sensible regulatory scheme will ensure quality, safety and efficacy for manufacturers and consumers. The public can be confident that products are safe and what’s on the label is actually in the bottle,” says Mrs Palmer.

“A recognised regulatory system will also be hugely beneficial to manufacturers in both their domestic and export markets. While most of the major manufacturers of natural health supplements in New Zealand are already manufacturing to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards, it will provide additional endorsement to New Zealand’s well known reputation for its natural products’ quality, says Mrs Palmer.

Natural Products NZ and its members look forward to continuing working closely with the Government to formulate the regulations.”

We also welcome the announcement that the monitoring and enforcement costs and capital costs will be funded by the Crown. The industry accepts there will be some cost to industry however that will be minimal in line with the level of regulation imposed.

NPNZ looks forward to working with the government to develop the NZ specific manufacturing standards and hope that they are aligned with the GMP system which is the level required by our export markets. A shorter implementation of the manufacturing standard than the 3 years suggested would also be appropriate so that the benefits of the new regulations will be brought to consumers sooner.

ENDS
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