Australia - In May 2003, the Australian Government established the Expert Committee on Complementary Medicines to review regulatory, health system and industry structures. The committee made 49 recommendations on a range of issues, including that a communication strategy be developed to better inform consumers of the potential risks associated with the personal importation of complementary medicines that may not be manufactured to the same standards of medicines available in Australia.

Australian Regulatory Guidelines for Complementary Medicines (ARGCM) have now been published with the aim to:

• provide information to help sponsors of complementary medicines to meet their obligations under therapeutic goods legislation;

• help ensure that applications to the TGA relating to complementary medicines uniformly meet all essential regulatory requirements so that applications may be processed successfully within minimum timeframes; and

• enhance clarity and transparency of processes leading to the Registration and Listing of complementary medicines in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG).

Reference: http://www.tga.au/