New Zealand Wellness Association
Support for Mark Patterson’s Members Bill
The Food (Health Supplements) Amendment Bill
July 2018

The New Zealand Wellness Association (NZWA) welcomes the new Food (Health Supplements) Amendment Bill introduced by New Zealand First MP Mark Patterson.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1806/S00313/common-sense-approach-to-marketing-of-health-supplements.htm

Joanne Bisset, the General Manager of the NZWA, is thrilled to see new legislation for the regulation of health supplements that puts the New Zealand consumer first, and allows small businesses as well as large exporters to flourish.

“This is a great opportunity for the New Zealand natural health industry to work with Parliament to create a regulatory framework that is risk-proportionate and that allows consumers to make informed choices about the products they buy for their health,” says Bisset.

“Under current legislation, suppliers are severely restricted in what they can say about products, even when there is good quality research to support their claims. This presents a huge challenge for local suppliers competing in an online market, where offshore suppliers on sites like iHerb and Amazon are widely making these restricted claims. It also limits New Zealand consumers from receiving information from New Zealand retailers that would help them in making their decisions.”

“The previously proposed legislation, the Natural Health and Supplementary Products Bill, was fortunately abandoned by the current government last year. That bill imposed high compliance costs that would have been very difficult for small businesses to meet and would have been passed on to the consumer, with the costs ultimately outweighing the benefits. It also imposed large barriers to entry, which was not supportive of New Zealand’s culture of innovation,” according to Bisset.

“The NZWA notes that an export-focused New Zealand company can voluntarily comply with any other country’s compliance regime if that is of benefit to them. However, the export industry as a whole has continued to grow despite the Natural Health Products and Supplementary Products Bill never progressing through Parliament. According to Natural Health Products New Zealand, there have been consistent and large increases in exports of New Zealand products,” says Bisset.

ENDS

WHAT IS THE NZWA?
The New Zealand Wellness Association is a not-for-profit organisation that acts as a voice for the progressive health and wellness industry. NZWA represents the best interests of the consumer and is funded by the membership of ethical natural health companies and practitioners, as well as by consumer crowd-funding. For more information, follow NZWA on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nzwellnessassociation/ or visit their website at www.nzwellnessassociation.co.nz.

Joanne Bisset, the General Manager of the NZWA, comes from a legal background, having worked as a corporate/commercial lawyer in both Auckland and London. She also holds a biology degree, and is now studying naturopathy part-time at the South Pacific College of Natural Medicine.

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