Background

TERMINOLOGY

Dietary Supplements includes vitamins, minerals, herbals, nutritional supplements, homoeopathic remedies.
GMP – Good Manufacturing Practices
MedSafe – Therapeutics branch of Ministry of Health
NZIER – NZ Institute of Economic Research (Inc)
SJA – Single Joint Agency (ANZ)
TGA - Therapeutic Goods Act or Administration


HISTORY OF DIETARY SUPPLEMENT LEGISLATION SINCE 1992

At present Dietary Supplements in New Zealand are covered by the Dietary Supplement Regulations 1985.

In 1992 the Ministry of Health decided they wanted a new Act to replace the Medicines Act 1981 and the Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985. The public, natural healthcare practitioners and health food companies made submissions.

In 1995 the Summary of the Submissions was released. The majority of the 850 submissions and 7000 letters related to Dietary Supplements. These clearly indicated that the public did not want their access to supplements restricted or for them to be classified as medicines or to pay higher prices for regulation.

Since then subsequent governments have classified the proposed new Bill as "low priority". Various meetings have been held between interested parties and the Ministry of Health since 1995 to try and progress the new Bill. All parties involved had come to a consensus with the MOH in 1999/2000 on how the Bill would cover Dietary Supplements. However, no progress was made on getting it written and introduced into parliament.

On 27th June 2000 the Minister of Health, Annette King set out a timetable for the new Bill - there was no mention of it being shelved or tied to a joint Australia/New Zealand Agency.

Documents obtained under the Official Information Act indicate that since 1998 there has been no intention to introduce the new Act in New Zealand. Both the National and Labour/Alliance Governments have clearly pursued an agenda of a Joint ANZ TGA/MedSafe Agency to the exclusion of all interested parties until recently. New Zealand supplement consumers have been ignored - no public meetings have been held – despite comments by junior Ministers.


AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND SINGLE JOINT AGENCY

"The Ministers" (Trade, Commerce and Health) have decided after advice from "officials" (bureaucrats in the Ministry of Health, Commerce and a report from NZIER) and in conjunction with their Australian government and bureaucratic counterparts to proceed with a combined Trans Tasman Joint Agency to control medicines, medical devices and dietary supplements. This was announced to invited industry groups at an Auckland meeting on Wednesday 7th March 2001. The government has given the Ministry of Health extra funding to pursue it! This is in direct opposition to submissions made by the majority of the New Zealand health food industry, natural health practitioners and consumers but in line with a Select Committee Estimate June 2000, recommending adoption of TGA.