Allison Roe Speech , June 16th 2006

Friday, June 16th 2006

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It is my great pleasure, on behalf of Creative Health New Zealand and the IM Health Trust, to welcome you here this evening. Despite our peaceful and picturesque surroundings, the business of the evening is serious.....Tonight is a call to action.

Today, we stand at the edge of a health precipice, the likes of which has never been seen in New Zealand before. While politicians rail over exploding health expenditure, and the increasingly unsustainable cost of medical technology, our government continues its relentless push towards a trans-tasman health alliance destined to adversely impact the health of every New Zealander. With the supposed aim of protecting New Zealand consumers from the "dangers" of nutritional supplements, herbal and homoeopathic medicines, the proposed Australia New Zealand Therapeutic Products Authority has the potential to seriously compromise the long term health of these same consumers. A glance across the Tasman shows us all we need to know about the reality of working within the confines of such legislation.

The Therapeutic Goods Agency (or TGA) has sounded a veritable death knell to the once thriving Australian dietary supplement industry. Numerous products have disappeared from the shelves of health food stores, and many small to medium sized manufacturers have been forced into oblivion, strangled by crippling compliance costs. The TGA has decimated the Australian natural products industry, but ultimately it will be the health of the individual consumers, denied access to a wide range of therapeutically active wellness products, which will suffer. Ironically, this comes at a time when "wellness", the popular movement towards health through healthy living, is taking a rapidly growing share of consumer health spending, and is being touted as the next trillion dollar market in the US. Over two and a half million New Zealanders regularly use natural health products, and in the United Kingdom the current annual spend on traditional remedies and supplements is around $US 230 billion a year.

The Dietary supplement industry has for some years acknowledged that the 1985 Dietary Supplement Regulation, under whose jurisdiction they operate, is neither effective nor appropriate, and is in need of review. Both industry and government agree that any such legislation should have at its central focus, the health and safety of the consumer.... but from there the consensus ends. In 2002 the government announced that instead of reviewing and amending New Zealand legislation, they would establish an agency to regulate both pharmaceutical and natural health products for both Australia and New Zealand together.... in effect extending the jurisdiction of the Australian Therapeutic Goods Agency (TGA) to cover both countries. Intense industry backlash eventually succeeded in having the proposal taken to Health Select Committee for approval, where it was roundly condemned as detrimental to the interests of both New Zealand businesses and consumers. Despite this, the government signed a treaty committing itself to proceed with the establishment of the joint agency. The treaty was then reviewed by the Select Health Committee and was again condemned with the recommendation that it should not be accepted by parliament. Despite their recommendations, the Ministry of Health has begun to construct the machinery needed to implement the establishment of such an agency.

Despite the common belief that the trans tasman alliance is a fait accomplis, in reality a joint Australia/New Zealand agency can only be established with a parliamentary majority... and this is a long way from certain. All parties beside labour have expressed strong opposition to the legislation the way it currently reads.

Despite this reality, the labour Government is already creating the machinery to implement such legislation. The proposed new Australia New Zealand Therapeutic Products Authority is to be established to regulate the safety, quality and effectiveness of both prescription and over the counter medicines, as well as herbal and complementary medicines in both Australia and New Zealand. Once established, the ANZTPA will replace both New Zealand's Medsafe and Australia's TGA.

Along with political opposition New Zealand has witnessed an unprecedented consumer backlash. The speakers you will hear today are united in their conviction that this destructive legislation is far from a fait accomplis, and that continued pressure on the opposition parties to vote against these proposals will almost certainly result in the TGA being defeated.

In the cold hard light of day, what will such a trans tasman regulator mean for New Zealand consumers, indigenous people and the wellness industry?

New Zealand will loose both its sovereignty and freedom of choice. The Autocratic bureaucracy's is to be deemed unprecedented powers, giving it full control of the dietary supplement industry in both Australia and New Zealand. They will be immune from accountability to either the public, the New Zealand parliament, or the New Zealand judicial system, and will operate in an artificial climate in which the ombudsman, the bill of rights and the treaty of Waitangi will be effectively "null and void".

The ANZTPA will mean that a pharmaceutical regulator will control both pharmaceuticals and natural medicines alike, despite their vastly different risk profiles. Forcing dietary supplement and natural medicine manufacturers to comply with pharmaceutical requirements confers a crippling additional manufacturing cost, inevitably forcing many of the small to medium enterprises out of business. TGA rules require all ingredients in a dietary supplement to be approved and licensed, which can cost up to $10,000 per ingredient. Non-compliance fines of up to $500,000 will be impossible by simple infringement notice. The inevitable end result will be hugely increased product costs for New Zealand consumers; reduced choice; and a greatly reduced impetus for innovation and development of new products.

Maori also face significant loss if the TGA alliance comes to pass. Nowhere in New Zealand have the failures of traditional western medicine been more evident than amongst the Maori population. The heritage of traditional Maori medicines and healing, which still has much to offer the modern day Maori, will be virtually legislated out of existence with the advent of the TGA in New Zealand. It is vital that the Maori people are supported in self determination for Maori healthcare. This involves maintaining sovereignty over the control and use of their traditional medicines. Protecting these rights is vital to the future health and culture of Maori people.

While each of these consequences of a trans-tasman alliance are threatening enough, there is another even greater consequence of rushing headlong into signing away our rights to New Zealand independence. We live in a country uniquely positioned to capitalise on the next trillion dollar industry. Our innovative and pioneering spirit, coupled with our strong international branding of "clean, green and healthy"; and abundant natural resources, confers New Zealand with an opportunity to lead the world in creating a new model of sustainable health care. We are faced, here and now, with the prospect of seeing this enormous potential snatched away with the stroke of a political pen. Aligning with the TGA shackles us irreversibly to the old paradigm unsustainable model of healthcare.... the model which is failing miserably throughout the western world.

New Zealand is unique in the OECD in having an economy so obviously dependent on its biological infrastructure. It follows that any offshore regulator of biological production, such as the TGA, will wield massive control over one of the most potentially lucrative areas of the New Zealand economy. If we want to ride the crest of the worldwide demand for "wellness" it is vital that New Zealand has full control and sovereignty over its biological regulatory framework.

We have both a unique need and a unique ability to create a world leading New Zealand based Natural Health Products Regulator - An independent, innovative and respected wellness focused regulator. One that can provide the reliability assurance for the penetration of powerful NZ wellness brands into the exploding international market. Clean, green, New Zealand wellness products can create opportunities for long term growth throughout the New Zealand economy.

With an internationally recognised New Zealand Wellness brand, every wellness related goods or service becomes more valuable. The indigenous people of New Zealand own significant potentially wellness related assets in the areas of farming, fisheries and tourism. These along with their traditional heritage of Maori medicine have greatly enhanced value when linked to the wellness brand New Zealand.

The proposed TGA legislation will effectively squeeze the life out of the New Zealand wellness industry - this industry with the potential to elevate New Zealand to international acclaim. In contrast a New Zealand based Natural Health products Regulator, married to an internationally recognised NZ "wellness brand", can stimulate a characteristically New Zealand, creative, health based knowledge economy.

We are at the end of our road. There is no more time for vacillation, hesitation or disagreement within the wellness industry. We already have the backing of many New Zealand consumers, and now is the time for us to present unified and determined opposition to the proposed trans tasman alliance.

Creative Health New Zealand and IM Health are shortly to launch an extensive, media campaign to further raise public awareness, and provoke a nation wide backlash against the TGA. The campaign is to be launched on July 11th when opera singer Geoff Sewell formerly of the band Amici, will speak on our behalf, and perform at St Mathews in the City. The same day, the print media campaign will begin with a full page advertisement in the New Zealand Woman's Weekly.

To those industry members in our audience, I strongly urge you to pledge your financial support to this final, and most important battle, in the four year war to save our wellness industry, and retain the opportunity for New Zealand to once again be a pioneer, this time as a global wellness economy.

Thank you.

Allison Roe

Footnote from Ideal Health

Related articles can be found here:

Bitter pill: Govt surrenders $200m industry to Australian control

Complementary Health Response Disappoints Sue Kedgley

Govt Suffers Setback on Trans-Tasman Plans

NZ Health Trust Newsletter

Pharmac Warns Huge Fees Will Price Medicines Off the Shelf

Rules Body 'Will Limit New Drugs'

Speech by Green Health spokesperson Sue Kedgley to the Natural Healthcare Policy Debate

When Is a Lie Not a Lie?

If you need help or advice, you are welcome to email our naturopathic team with your health question.

Disclaimer: The health information presented here has been written for the New Zealand health consumer. It is of a general nature and is only intended to provide a summary of the subjects covered. The information is not intended to be comprehensive or to provide medical advice to you. While all care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information, no responsibility or liability is accepted, and no person should act in reliance on any statement contained in the information provided. All health ailments should be treated by a qualified health professional.

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