What Can Consumers Expect from the Natural Health & Supplementary Products Bill?

The Natural Health and Supplementary Products Bill is set to have its third and final reading to become law, and is expected to take effect around June 2016. The Regulations are expected to come into force shortly afterwards.

This Bill will result in many Natural Health Products (NHPs) becoming either severely restricted (via new low dosage limits or new application restrictions such as “For External Use Only”) or being made outright illegal in NZ.

Consumers will no longer be able to purchase some products that they currently use to keep themselves well. Just a few examples that we have been made aware of are: Liposomal Vit C, Liposomal Glutathione, Truehope EMPowerplus, Hardy Nutritionals Daily EssentialNutrients and all 5-HTP products.

NHPs in NZ are presently regulated under a ‘Black-list’ (a short list of banned substances that have shown robust evidence of harm). We currently have the right to consume any Natural Health ingredients that are not on the ‘Black-list’, which gives us access to an unquantifiably high number of natural ingredients that have no history of harm.

Under the new Bill this present ‘Black-list’ approach will be replaced by a new ‘White-list’ approach, with a very limited ‘White-list’ of ‘permitted ingredients’. Any ingredient that is not on this permitted ‘White-list’ will not be allowed to be sold in NZ. Only a small fraction of our current range of natural ingredients will remain, should this legislation be enacted.

There is no scientific reasoning or justification for such limitations, and no history of risk to human health.

Many Natural Health Products will disappear if they contain even one ingredient that is not on the ‘Permitted White-list’. Many manufacturers and suppliers will also disappear as a result.

Natural Health Practitioners will be unable to properly practice as they will no longer be able to prescribe to their patients’ needs.

Māori health practitioners and others using traditional herbal and other remedies to make products for an individual patient will be unable to use non-permitted ingredients.

Products presently classified as ‘Practitioner Only Range’ will not be exempt from the Bill.

Which ingredients do YOU rely on? If they are not on this permitted list they will no longer be legally available in NZ. Check them out here:http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/regulatory/PILSearch.asp

The Government is asking for public feedback. Submissions on the Consultation Document close at 5pm on Friday 5 Feb 2016http://www.health.govt.nz/publication/regulation-natural-health-products-consultation

SEND submissions to: naturalhealthproducts@moh.govt.nz

Or post to: Natural Health Products
Ministry of Health
PO Box 5013
Wellington 6145

Health Freedom NZ Trust invites all consumers who wish to be kept informed of developments and / or help to save our right of access to Natural Health ingredients to sign up for the Health Freedom Newsletter http://www.healthfreedom.co.nz/home/160-subscribe-to-hfnz.html

ENDS

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