Hutchison Paul: Natural Health Products Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Hutchison Paul: Natural Health Products Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 20 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8811. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON (National—Hunua) 
: 
 It is indeed a pleasure to speak on this Natural Health Products Bill which is shortly to become the Natural Health and Supplementary Products Bill which is a far more fitting title. I too would like to acknowledge and thank the Health Committee for the incredibly constructive way that it worked. This bill did require a lot of thought and indeed the committee did contribute very significantly in making changes that at the end of the day were consensual were practical and were appropriate for this challenging legislation. I want to acknowledge the officials who were tested on many occasions. I think they had preconceived ideas about many of these things but they were prepared to wrestle with them intellectually. Finally I want to acknowledge the 739 submitters— 
Hon Simon Bridges 
: Name them. 
Dr PAUL HUTCHISON 
: I cannot name them precisely but many of them were extremely thoughtful. 
Put thoughtfully the bill seeks to regulate low-risk so-called natural health products in New Zealand. The original title sounds simple and easy but in fact this was one of the most challenging pieces of legislation I have ever had to be involved with in this Parliament. I think that is because the bill literally has to deal with a clash of two important cultures—one being the scientific and the other being the traditional. I am very pleased that the principles of the bill are spelt out clearly in the legislation. They include the fact that natural health and supplementary products should be accompanied by information that is accurate and tells consumers about any risks side effects or benefits of using the product and secondly that health benefit claims made for natural health and supplementary products should be supported by scientific or traditional evidence. Having come from a scientific background I do find bridging that gap to accommodate the idea that traditional evidence might support claims is quite a leap for me personally. But the bottom line is that the so-called natural health products should be safe for public consumption that compliance measures are kept at a minimum and that the public do have choice in what they can use. 
The committee came face to face with the significant problems of what does indeed constitute a so-called natural health product in the setting that many of these products have synthetic compounds binding agents and excipients. Natural health and supplementary products are widely consumed around the world. There are billions if not trillions of dollars spent on them every year around the world whether or not they do good or harm. Some have clear scientific evidence of efficacy and others have none whatsoever. This caused an obvious divide between many of the submitters on the bill. As I mentioned significant commercial businesses have been formed where products with no scientific evidence whatsoever have been sold for centuries. However this whole point about placebo effect and the use of complementary medicines has been accommodated throughout health systems right around the world today because we do know that individuals can get considerable benefit if they think that what they are using is going to be helpful. I always marvel at the fact that the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s hospital in New York which has a tradition of science about it also has a complementary medicine department associated with it to recognise the value of some of these traditional products. 
The Prime Minister has said that his Government will have science at its centre and there is no doubt that in any legislation—and in particular this type of legislation—a strong evidence base behind policy is fundamental if it is going to be durable. I must say that I consider the submission made by the Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister Professor Sir Peter Gluckman was particularly salutary and worthy of noting. He mentions the original title of the bill the Natural Health Products Bill and he does say that “It is unfortunate that the bill has progressed so far with such a misleading title”. He also goes on to talk about the nature of evidence and how important it is to use the term “scientific evidence” to mean knowledge arising from the scientific process of organised observation and hypothesis testing whereas anecdotal information or the opinions and impressions of individuals does not constitute scientific evidence. He believes that it is very very important to stress whether evidence on manufacturers’ labels is scientific or traditional and I absolute concur with that. I am very pleased that we have persuaded those behind the bill that manufacturers will be required to provide a summary of evidence backing up claims. The other point he made was that the New Zealand economy is based on food exports. Increasingly the food industry is seeking to develop foods and nutraceuticals with proven and regulator-approved health claims. It is now about a billion-dollar industry. It is vital for New Zealand that we are credible in the way we treat these products. It is vital for our exports in this rapidly increasing field. He talked about exemptions and homeopathic issues where there is no accepted scientific evidence that homeopathy is efficacious. 
Finally I just want to make a comment about the Natural Health and Supplementary Products Regulatory Authority. This will have considerable power and its decisions will be all-important. I want to put on record that I would like to see it ensure a strong evidence base behind its deliberations. Quite rightly the committee amended the composition of membership to ensure there would be at least one member with experience in the manufacturing of these products and at least one member with experience and qualifications in the field of science. I look forward to the Committee stage of this bill.