Reply To: Herbal Business
Hi Kim,
Thank you for your question as I think this is om many peoples minds right now. I am working to catch up with what this means for small businesses making herbal products and will update this answer, if I find more. For now here is a link to the outline of what the updates are and links to how they are implementing them.
https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2021/2021-06-26/html/reg4-eng.html
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/about-health-canada/legislation-guidelines/acts-regulations/forward-regulatory-plan/plan/self-care-framework.html
The first one is a long read, but what I am getting from it is that this mainly focuses on folks selling NHP’s that are not present at sale. For example if you are labelling your product to be sold in a store front, online or even a market, but you as the herbalist/creator are not there to explain/give a mini consult on how to safely use the product. With this in mind, it is important to include safety information (if there is any), clear ingredient information, and no claims on your labels. If you are planning on being present when selling your products then you could keep your labels claim free more easily as you can guide them through proper and safe use in conversation and provide a hand out containing further information with each purchase.
I think that one of the biggest issues here is that herbal tinctures and glycerites etc. are being lumped in with all NHP’s, such as supplements, and then they are all being treated the same as non-prescription pharmaceutical drugs, of which we all know are very different from one another. So on this note I will mention that the Canadian Council of Herbalist Associations and the provincial associations are working hard to protect the rights of herbalists and herbal creations. There are petitions that folks can take part in through these organisations as well.
With warmth and strength to continue to offer beautiful whole plant support for folks who can benefit from it (everyone!) 🙂
Benna