The World Health Organization recommends that all acupuncturists are licensed in some way and have at least 200 hours of training under their belt before they can practise. In most developed countries, this is certainly the case. National regulatory bodies exist in New Zealand, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Japan and the European Union, for example. Acupuncture is regulated by the Chinese Medicine Council, which was founded in 1999 specifically to deal with issues of malpractice in the country. Only registered practitioners can operate in Australia, but there are schemes within each state rather than a nationwide licensing arrangement. Multiple regulatory bodies and professional acupuncturist organisations have been up and running in the United States since the mid-1980s, with some crossover between their operations.
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