It's time to act!

We have been following the extraordinary events that surround the government and the new proposed EU directive aimed at, which ever way you look at it, removing the choice from individuals to purchase natural supplements.

The only way to stop this nonsense is to write to your MP, not next week or next month, but right now, and express your views on this worrying matter. To lobby this would be giving you back the freedom to purchase your already monitored, safe products. You will be acting for freedom of choice, which one would have thought was what living in a free country was all about.

The Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive, (or should I say the latest directive, as we have already had the Food Supplements Directive passed into European Law, and a statutory instrument has now been prepared to incorporate this Directive into UK law), aims to add legislation which will regulate the production of remedies which will require each batch to be tested in a pharmaceutical manner every time they are manufactured. The cost of this exercise, (on average £2,000 per batch), will wipe out most small producers and will give the monopoly to the larger manufactures who may be able to carry these costs. Why?

Producers are already regulated and are strictly monitored by legislation in place.

The UK industry will definitely lose a large number of nutrients (sources) for no good reason, and there is a real risk of losing higher potency products. It will also lose many herbal products and all those products which contain active herbal ingredients combined with non herb active ingredients.

The government will then be removing by law from the market products which are safe and popular, and upon which consumers choose to spend money because they believe that they improve their health and quality of life.

Consumer protection will be undermined by the legislation. Those who believe that products have significantly improved their health will not suddenly abandon them. They will buy them over the internet from potentially unregulated overseas sources with no quality, hygiene, or safety control.

It is astonishing that in this day and age, with the information readily available in regard to the benefits of natural remedies, supplements, vitamins and minerals that this EU directive could even be considered by any sane person, let alone an entire government. How is it that you are able to purchase cigarettes, alcohol, food laden with potentially harmful additives, sweets and chocolate heaving with sugar, but yet we have to think about fighting for the right to purchase supplements, vitamins and minerals and herbal remedies that we know are aiding us in the prevention of disease? Words fail.

There are smoking guns behind these directives, and it doesn't take the brain of Britain to work out who will benefit from this activity. It smacks of Big Brother and goes against everything a democracy should stand for.

It would seem that 300 MPs are needed to prevent the Food Supplements Directive from being implemented in its current form. If your MP has already put his name to fight against this directive, then you need to ask any friends or colleagues from a constituent where the MP has not signed, to try to get some activity going in their area.

Please do not leave this battle to be fought by others, make you voice heard and write to your MP, and ask him or her to consider their view on this matter. It should be noted that an MP finds it easy to ignore a few letters of complaint; but if the number of letters he/she receives amounts to 20-30 or more, the matter is perceived as an issue, and appropriate action is far more likely.

Progress may be monitored at http://edm.ais.co.uk/weblink/motion.html/ref=279.

Apathy will mean that this will be passed and there will be no going back.