HERBAL REMEDIES AND VITAMIN AND MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS

Early day motion 593, tabled 28 April 1999 by Brian Iddon (Labour). Signed by 120 members.

That this House notes that millions of people, in taking responsibility for their own health, choose regularly to purchase herbal remedies and vitamin and mineral supplements; observes that there is increasing evidence of the effectiveness of such supplementation and of complementary remedies in promoting higher standards of public health; believes that it should be the right of consumers to have access at reasonable prices and on general retail sale to such safe and popular products of their choice; notes with concern the precipitate haste with which the Medicines Control Agency is seeking new powers which would make it extremely difficult for a manufacturer to prove a product is not a medicine and thus require it to have a product licence from the Agency at a cost of around ú100,000 and only by overcoming inappropriate hurdles to qualify; regrets that this move would remove hundreds of safe and popular products from the market, serve no public safety purpose, and cause widespread economic difficulties for the healthfood sector; and invites Her Majesty's Government to consider pausing for thought and informed debate before the introduction of new, disproportionate, and unnecessary regulation in this area.

Signatures by party: Labour 59, Liberal Democrat 27, Conservative 23, Plaid Cymru 3, UUP 3, Labour/Co-operative 2, Scottish National Party 2, UKUP 1.