April 1, 1998 – In a brief submitted to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health (Canadian federal government), the Guilde des herboristes du Québec calls for new regulations on medicinal plants so that they no longer fall under one of the two categories of products defined by the Food and Drugs Act.
The Guild, which represents 250 members, is asking for the establishment of a third category of products corresponding to the reality of medicinal plants. Under current Canadian regulations, medicinal plants are most often considered food and no claims can be made regarding their therapeutic properties.
The Guild proposes that a Standing Committee of Experts, which would be mainly composed of experts in medicinal plants (phytotherapists, herbalists, naturopaths, ethnobotanists, botanists, manufacturers, producers), be responsible for developing the content of the Canadian pharmacopoeia and to publish detailed monographs of each plant selected. These monographs would be based as much on the traditional use of medicinal plants as on recent scientific studies.
The Guild, which brings together several small artisanal producers, the vast majority of whom are women, demands that the desired regulations do not impose such control requirements that companies are unable to meet them. The brief emphasizes that the plants in question are not toxic and that the controls do not need to be as severe as for drugs. The brief also points out that companies use artisanal methods and work with agricultural products, making it impossible to comply with manufacturing practices designed for a pharmaceutical industry working in a laboratory.
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