treat the person, not the symptom.

From April 2011, European legislation (EC Directive 2004/24/EC) which has already been passed in 2004 will come into force which will effectively mean that ALL Herbal medicines will disappear from the shelves in our High Streets or internet shops within the EU. Freedom of choice in medicine is being taken away. You will only have access to treatments which are Pharmaceutical Drugs based in order to treat your own and your families ailments. No Chinese herbs, No Ayurvedic (Indian) herbs, No Western herbs, NO MEDICINAL HERBS WHATSOEVER. Chinese medicine practitioners will lose access to the majority of the herbs and medicines on which they rely. Consumers will NOT be able to buy any Chinese herbal products within the EU.
This legislation has been heavily influenced by the pharmaceutical industry, who want to protect their profit and will stand to gain by this legislation. There is not any evidence to prove that herbal medicine present a significant risk to the public under previous and present legislation, when policed properly.

“In the case of something like Chinese medicine, the safety issue is a red herring because hundreds of millions of people safely use Chinese medicine already and incredible amounts of research, safety data, usage data, and AER data is available in Asian countries if the EU officials cared to look into it. A blanket ban on products that have been safely used by billions of people for centuries seems to fly in the face of the modern vision of a harmonious, globally integrated society. “

“Getting a classical herbal medicine from a non-European traditional medicinal culture through the EU registration scheme is akin to putting a square peg into a round hole. The regulatory regime ignores and thus has not been adapted to the specific traditions. Such adaptation is required urgently if the directive is not to discriminate against non-European cultures and consequently violate human rights.”
Despite the petitions and demonstrations from herbal practitioners and consumers, as in April 2010, the UK government is showing clear intention to enforce this ban. Although there is still around 11 months away, some of our suppliers have already taken precautions to stop importing stocks in order to accommodate for this change in law and therefore, we are also reducing the stock level and stop stocking low demand products. We are expecting the shortage of supply on certain herbal products in coming months, as the UK based suppliers are calculating the risk of importing and stocking herbal products as the deadline of ban is looming.
We advise our customers to consider stocking up on any medications which you are particularly reliant on, as there is a great chance that they will no longer be available in the UK from next year.
Please raise the issue to your local MP and sign the petition HERE.