from ANH Update on Traditional Herbal Medicines in Europe

When the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive was passed in 2004, many herbal producers, including those producing herbs for the great and ancient traditions of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, saw the Directive as a 'godsend'.

Here was a piece of law that would give these herbal products a proper medicinal classification, meaning they could actually be used to help make sick people healthier. The food supplements regime, under which most of these products have been sold in Europe, of course doesn't allow any claim to be made about the treatment or protection against disease. In fact, food supplements are intended only for healthy persons (so they say)!

We are now 6 years into the implementation of the Directive, and only there's only a year before it's all-important transition phase runs out.

The American Botanical Council approached the ANH with three questions, asking its views on this issue that is of great importance to natural health, especially in the European Union. But obviously it has a major impact on suppliers from all around the world, and given the way in which European regulatory models are viewed in other regions, the practical workability of the system is crucial if it's going to be adopted elsewhere.

Here's what we had to say in response to the questions (in bold text) from the American Botanical Council...

continue reading at ANH Update on Traditional Herbal Medicines in Europe