in London, and looked at the future of herbal medicine in the UK, with particular reference to the EU Traditional
Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD).
Comparisons were made with Germany, which has had a regulated herbal market for many years now. One
advantage of this is the increase in funds available to research medicinal plants. There are currently few opportunities
to gain funding to research herbs in the UK as there are so many cheap products on the market of questionable quality.
The new EU directive will mean that all herbal medicinal products sold in the UK from April 2011 will need to be licensed
for use or withdrawn from sale.
Speakers from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) spoke about the current situation
in the UK, and admitted that the current rules are draconian, but insisted that its the only way to ensure public safety in
an unregulated market. They have a point, although its still frustrating that herbs such as kava have been banned on
evidence that is strongly disputed by herbal practitioners.
It is to be hoped that this legislation, coupled with the registation of herbalists through parliament will
help safeguard the use of traditional herbal medicine in the UK for future generations.
