Join the fight: Repeal the Therapeutic Products Act

In July 2023, the Labour-led government used its absolute Parliamentary majority and urgency rules to ram through the Therapeutic Products Bill.  It was signed off by the Governor-General and is now law.

The Therapeutic Products Act is the biggest threat to the natural health products industry.

This is a change for the worse and Kiwis are the losers.

This inequitable law classifies natural health products, such as Zinc and Vitamin C that is sold over the counter or online, as pharmaceuticals that require a high degree of regulation.

These products have been regulated under the Food Act for many years without any problems.

Similar legislation was proposed in 2007 and again in 2017, however, both Bills were withdrawn after MPs agreed that natural health products posed little-to-no risk to the public in light of the fact that no-one has died or been hurt through consuming such natural remedies.

Medsafe says on its website: “The passing of the Therapeutic Products Bill marks the most significant change to the regulation of medicines, medical devices and natural health products in nearly 40 years”. The motivation behind the Ministry of Health’s and Medsafe’s ongoing obsession with bringing natural health products under the same regulatory control as Big Pharma medicine is deeply concerning and suspicious, when the Food Act has been and remains adequate to protect the public.

The health bureaucracy claims the legislation is needed to “keep people safe”, that natural health products pose an unacceptable risk to people’s lives, and that more regulation will increase exports.

How they came to any of those conclusions is mind-boggling.

Health practitioners may have to close their doors for fear of being jailed or excessively fined under this legislation.

The Therapeutic Products Act will only benefit large overseas-owned multi-national conglomerates, add extra unnecessary layers of bureaucracy into the system (through the creation of a specialist health unit of up to 150 people as well as increased taxation), and leave Kiwi consumers worse off and inconvenienced.

The Therapeutic Products Act is an ideological piece of legislation that was passed by an over-reaching government in favour of Big Pharma, and will have the effect of wiping out suppliers of natural health products in New Zealand and making products more expensive, more difficult to obtain. But large online sellers such as Amazon or iHerb and other US-owned tech companies will do well out it.

Help us put this right for Kiwis.

This year’s general election is the most important vote in generations. Not only because of the attack on our industry by this government, but also because of the myriad of other abhorrent policies and laws promulgated by the Labour and Green parties.

None of the parties that currently reside in our Parliament have said they will repeal the Therapeutic Products Act.

But one party has – NZ First.

At his speech in Whangarei on Sunday 30 July, Winston Peters was unequivocal: NZ First will repeal the Therapeutic Products Act.

In the last few years, the Labour-Green coalition government has forced on our population an experimental medical intervention and took away people’s livelihoods for refusing to do so. There are thousands of Kiwis who are prepared to cast their vote this year on a single issue.

We are urging every New Zealander who believes that they may be negatively impacted by the Therapeutic Products Act to vote in favour of repealing the Therapeutic Products Act by giving your party vote to NZ First.

This is the only way you can save your businesses, the natural health industry and retain your right to choose how you support your wellbeing.

We can get the Therapeutic Products Act thrown out and the Natural Health Alliance can play a key role in making this happen.

Authorised by Glenn Inwood, 566N Adelaide Road, Wellington 6023