Chinese Medicine and the Use of Endangered Species

In Australia the supply of therapeutic goods including Chinese herbal medicine, is regulated by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). By law no Chinese herbal medicine can contain animal parts. Plants substitutes must be made in formulas that traditionally contain ingredients such as tiger bone and deer antler before the TGA will approve them.

Additionally, for a herbal formula to be licensed with the TGA, the factory in China from which it comes must comply with TGA "Good Manufacturing Practice" standards. The factories are inspected regularly by Australian health officials to ensure ongoing compliance.

In the USA where the controlling body is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), herbal medicines sell virtually unchecked as long as no disease-specific claims are made. For a herbal medicine to be FDA licensed, a process which is extremely expensive and takes many years, strict rules exist for documenting its claimed benefits.

Although a ban on the use of endangered species in herbal medicines is obviously vital for their continuous survival, it will no doubt be difficult to enforce on a world-wide scale. You only have to stroll through herb stores in Sydney's Chinatown (or probably any other Chinatown in the world for that matter) to see that herbal medicines containing endangered species, still make their way, albeit illegally, into the country. As the above story suggests though, the answer lies with consumer education.

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