FW: EU Ban on Herbs

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Here is something I got from Metabolics yesterday about the herb ban. They seem to be stopping production of many of their herbal products as they can't afford a licence for all of them. From: info@...To: canadacath@...Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 03:42:20 +1000Subject: EU Ban on Herbs

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EU Legislation Removes UK Herbs

Dear

As I’m sure you’re aware, the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive will affect many of us as of the 30th of April.

We have had many requests for information regarding “which herbs will be banned” at the end of April.

It is important to note that herbs aren’t being “banned” as such, however most herbal products in the UK are sold under a licensing exemption. The THMPD removes this exemption and forces manufacturers to acquire licenses for products that are considered to be herbal medicines. Each product requires a license and each license can cost many tens of thousands of pounds, some estimates have placed this cost at up to £120,000 per product.

The downside to this is that it is impossible for most manufacturers to afford the licenses, which regrettably means they are forced to simply discontinue the product.

Whilst we would always support a framework that could improve consumer safety, it is difficult to endorse a system that removes a consumer’s freedom of choice, and that also has the potential to drive consumers to acquire products from countries outside the EU.

As such, from the 30th of April we will not be able to place new stock of anything defined as an herbal medicine on the market.

This means that we cannot guarantee to be able to fulfill orders for herbal products after that date. We are able to sell off any existing stock that we have on the shelves but not manufacture any more, so once it’s gone, it’s gone!

Products likely to be defined as herbal medicines include: Agnus Castus (Chasteberry), Black Cohosh, Echinacea, St. s Wort, Feverfew etc

At this stage there is some ambiguity as to whether our herbal supplements could be classed as herbal medicines or food supplements. In light of this we would not encourage anyone to “stock pile” products. Some products may end up being classed as food supplements, others as herbal medicines so the last thing we want is for people to stockpile products only to find they aren’t discontinued. However, as mentioned previously, we cannot guarantee the fulfillment of future orders so if you’re really, really keen to get a product which contains herbal ingredients then you may like to order a couple of extra bottles/pots before the 30th.

It is worth remembering that all other Metabolics products remain unaffected by this change in legislation so you will be able to continue to order all other vitamin and mineral supplements as normal.

More info:

The Alliance for Natural Health’s website is a great resource for information about what you can do to act against the legislation. It’s also a great place to find out more about how the ANH are mounting a legal challenge against the THMPD.

There are many petitions floating around at the moment where you can register your dissatisfaction for THMPD, however there are a group of people trying to rally EU wide support for the ANH’s legal challenge. They have more information and an ever growing petition. If you want to defend your freedom of choice from European legislators then you can find out more here.

You can read the full version of the regulations as transposed into UK law here.

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