After April 2011 Woodland Herbs will only be able to sell tinctures for internal use which have been authorised. The 2004/24/EC Directive came into force in 2004, and the industry was given until 2011 to get authorisation for their products. Unfortunately the cost has been prohibitive for many companies (including Woodland Herbs).
This means that we will no longer be selling our herbal tinctures (with our company's name on it) for internal use. We will be selling tinctures, from other companies, which have been authorised. The majority of our tinctures will be from Vogel (Bioforce). The number of herbal tinctures available will hopefully increase over time as companies manage to get more of their products authorised. This also applies to the availability of capsules and tablets. We currently do not have a complete list of the herbal products we will be able get hold of after April, as a number of companies have not been able to inform us of their full list of products after this date.
We can sell dried herbs for non-medicinal use, therefore the availability of dried herbs will be reduced. Herbs we use as foods (chamomile, peppermint, jasmine etc) or other non-medicinal uses (rose, lavender etc) will be kept. It is surprising how many of these herbs there are, however we cannot comment on any "medicinal herbal" uses of herbs that we sell for other uses. This will also include the removal from our website of any exisitng information on the use of herbs as this could be viewed as making a "medicinal claim". Our apologies if this causes inconvenience to regular users of our website.
Article 5.1 of the directive says that herbs may be prescribed by an authorised healthcare professional, which now includes herbalists. This needs to be made after a one-to-one consultation, therefore it is not possible to phone Woodland Herbs for a telephone prescription of the herb you are wanting. If you cannot visit one of the herbalists in our clinic in Glasgow then a list of medical herbalists registered with the National Institute of Medical Herbalists can be found on www.nimh.co.uk
What to do next
Act now! No new items can be added to our shelves after 30th April and we can then only sell items while stocks last! You can order in bulk over the phone. Tinctures typically last up to 5 years and dried herbs 2 years.
Consider whether seeing a medical herbalist locally to you may allow you to either purchase the tinctures and dried herbs you want from them, or they can also arrange for our dedicated service for herbalists to send you your herbs (only available after a face-to-face consultation). Herbs bought from ourselves that have been prescribed by your local herbalist should be available at prices similar to those that we were able to offer before the law changes.
More Information
Over the next few years the law on herbs will be defined on a case by case, plant by plant and even capsule by capsule basis. At Woodland Herbs we will have to adapt our range of herbs, plants and other products that we supply from our own range and also as our suppliers adjust their ranges. From experience in the lead up to the change in legislation information will change as specific guidance from UK authorities and Europe changes. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency wbesite www.mhra.gov.ukcontains current UK government department guidance.
