Political Update
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The Canadian Journal of Herbalism
John R. Harrison MH, MSc , MS , PhD(c)
John Harrison is a member of the Board of Directors, Ontario Herbalists Association and President of JRH Toxicology, a health science consulting company in Metcalfe , Ontario .

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Article:
There are four political topics on which to report for this issue, namely:

  • Regulation of herbal practitioners by means of a city of Toronto By-Law ;
  • The current status of the House of Commons Bill C-420 that propose to regulate natural health products, including herbs, as foods under the Canadian Food and Drug Act;
  • The latest work of the Canadian Council of Herbalist Associations; and
  • The Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and their recent documents which defined the term herbalist for the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

1) Regulation of herbal practitioners by means of a city of Toronto By-Law
 Good news! The Ontario Herbalists Association (OHA) has had its application approved under the Toronto By-Law that covers Holistic and Traditional Medicine Establishments. Hard work by OHA volunteers and Board members has ensured that herbal practitioners were not about to be put out of business by this Toronto by-law. Presently, these by-laws have not been finalized by the city of Toronto .

There will be a stakeholders meeting regarding these by-laws on November 28, 2005 and it will be attended by Diane Kent, President, OHA. Information about the impact of the new Toronto by-law will be made available as soon as it is finalized by the Toronto City Hall .

2) The current status of the House of Commons Bill C-420 that propose to regulate natural health products, including herbs, as foods under the Canadian Food and Drug Act.
The House of Commons Bill C-420 has had a bumpy ride over the past year. As the 38th Parliament is about to have its first Session finished at the time of writing this report (November 24, 2005), it can be assumed that Canadians will soon be into another election. This edition of Bill C-420, therefore, will be finished with this Parliament.

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Health discussed the topic of Bill C-420 many times in the past year and presented its seventeenth report to Parliament on November 23, 2005 . The Committee resolved to recommend that the House of Commons do not proceed further with Bill C-420. The Health Committee noted that Health Canada intends to proceed with regulatory amendments to modernize how it achieves the objectives of Section 3 and Schedule A of the Food and Drug Act while supporting Canadians’ ability to make healthy choices and informed decisions about their health with trustworthy product information. More information on the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health is available at: http://www.parl.gc.ca/committee/CommitteeList.aspx?Lang=1&PARLSES=381&JNT=0&SELID=E17_.1&COM=8981 .

Health Canada convened a Science Advisory Panel, of which I was a member, in October 2005 to review and update the diseases and conditions listed on Schedule A to reflect current scientific understanding and to consider options for achieving the objectives of Section 3 and Schedule A in general while keeping pace with evolving knowledge. The report of the Health Canada Science Advisory Panel should be completed and released shortly.

Section 3 and Schedule A of the Food and Drug Act do not allow the treatment prevention and/or cure claims for many diseases. Section 3 and Schedule A were enacted in 1934 and knowledge and the regulatory environment have changed immensely since then. Many new products have been developed that can effectively treat or reduce the health risks of many of the disease states listed in Schedule A.  The Food and Drug Act and Schedules are located at: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/f-27/61279.html .

3) Canadian Council of Herbalist Associations (CCHA) and the Natural Health Products Directorate (NHPD), Health Canada .
More good news for Canadian professional herbalists and their clients! The CCHA (including Michael Vertolli, President and Richard DeSylva, OHA representative) had been actively consulting on the compounding policy of the Natural Health Products Directorate and was recently (November 23, 2005) informed by the NHPD that, as a result of CCHA comments at a recent meeting with NHPD, the NHPD is in the process of revising their policy on compounding.

The NHPD have decided to exempt bulk herbs and tinctures from the Natural Health Product Regulations as long as these materials are only used for compounding, and to expand the range of scenarios that will be captured under the definition of compounding. The details on this topic will be released later by NHPD. The CCHA has been given to December 23, 2005 to comment on the revised policy.

Prior to this NHPD decision, the CCHA met with the NHPD in Ottawa , Ontario and was told that the NHPD was finalizing its policy on compounding by practitioners. The CCHA was the only stakeholder group that was being asked to provide information on the last round of commentary on the NHPD proposed policy. The NHPD had informed the CCHA, at that point in time, that, although there was a provision in the regulations that exempts the “act” of compounding by practitioners from the regulations, the existing provision may not have been strong enough to exempt the resulting “product” of the act of compounding. This would have meant that the herbal formulations that were compounded in the context of a practitioner/client relationship might have required a product licence and a site licence. As noted above, NHPD has come up with a revised policy to not have to impose regulations on compounding herbalists.

4) The Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in the summer of 2005 released a report on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which defined the term herbalist solely for their field of medicine.
The Board of the Ontario Herbalists Association sent a letter to the provincial government in response to this report. A number of issues were addressed in this letter and these included concern over the attempt to control the practice of prescribing, dispensing, selling, and compounding Chinese herbal medicines by means of a new controlled act in the Ontario Regulated Health Professions Act. It was explained to the Ontario government that the ability to prescribe, dispense, sell, and compound is essential to the practice of herbalism and professional herbalists are trained to perform these acts.

The Ontario government report also states that there be a class of TCM practitioners in a future regulatory college designated as herbalists who use Chinese herbal remedies within the TCM context. One of the concerns raised by this is the idea that only TCH professionals would be able to use the term “herbalist” and the OHA strongly recommends that this not be the case. A reply has not been received as yet to this OHA letter.

Political Update, Fall, 2004

Political Update, Fall, 2002

Political Update, February 2002

Political Update, March, 2002

Regulations of Herbs/Natural Health Products

The material contained on this web site is intended for educational purposes only and no responsibility is assumed for misadventure resulting from the misuse of botanical preparations. If you have a health problem, you should consult a qualified medical doctor for diagnosis. Herbal treatment should be undertaken only with the advice of a qualified herbal practitioner. Self medication may be dangerous or ineffective.

General membership in the Ontario Herbalists Association is open to any herbal enthusiast, and does not imply any fitness to practise herbal medicine. The OHA only supports those members who have met or exceeded the requirements for professional membership, who have been approved, and whose membership is in good standing.