CHC Codes of Practices
Consultation Draft Code of Practice for the Marketing of Complementary Medicines and Healthfood Products
The Working Group for the Promotion of Therapeutic Products (including MA, CHC, ASMI, MTAA, GMiA), met during 2010/11 to develop high-level principles as the basis for the respective codes of conduct, and to address issues such as the need to achieve greater consistency and alignment between industry codes. Further to the high-level principles the working group agreed to consider operational elements for inclusion in their codes, such as: gifts and offers, educational events, management of company representatives, promotional claims/advertisements to healthcare professionals, celebrity endorsements, product samples, social media, etc.
The consultation draft Code of Practice for the Marketing of Complementary Medicines and Healthfood Products now covers promotion to two main target audiences and can be broken into two predominant sections – promotion to consumers and promotion to healthcare professionals.
Major Changes and New Layout
Code of Practice for the Marketing of Complementary Medicines and Healthfood Products Consultation Draft
There has been robust debate over the last six months with regard to the industry approach to the supply of practitioner only products to retailers and the subsequent availability of these products to consumers.
All stakeholders have agreed that practitioner-only products should not be available for self-selection by consumers within a retail environment. However, there has been strong contention with regard to mandating within the Code of Practice for the Marketing of Complementary Healthcare Products for these products to be not visible within a retail environment. The secretariat strongly recommends not mandating this expectation of members, in particular because this clause is impossible to enforce. The Executive Board was split on this issue, with a vote of 5-3 to provisionally include the clause ‘not visible’ and for a final decision to be determined after CHC member consultation. Please forward all comments to standards@chc.org.au before March 16th 2012. Comments will be forwarded to the Marketing Code Governance Committee to develop a final recommendation for the CHC Board regarding this matter.
Member Paper - Practitioner Only Products
The CHC Code of Practice for the Marketing of Complementary Healthcare and Healthfood Products
The Complementary Healthcare Council established the Code of Practice for the Marketing of Complementary Healthcare and Healthfood Products which promotes regulatory compliance as well as high standards of professionalism, in keeping with our commitment to ensure the integrity of healthcare products available to the community. This Code applies to the marketing of all complementary healthcare products.
An important feature of the Code is the independent Complaints Resolutions Committee (CRC) which investigates advertising complaints and can apply a range of sanctions for breaches of the Code. Please refer to the complaints process details for more information.
The CHC Code of Practice for the Marketing of Complementary Healthcare and Healthfood Products
(Currently under review).
Complementary Medicine Retailer's Code of Practice
The
Complementary Medicine Retailer’s Code of Practice is intended to establish the basic principles and practices that deal fairly with relationships between retail members and customers, as well as relationships between retail members and other stakeholders within the complementary medicine industry. As the Complementary Medicine Industry grows and matures, there is a development toward integration with mainstream healthcare as an effective preventative strategy to improve the wellbeing of the community and reduce our nation’s healthcare costs. This alignment with mainstream healthcare means that pharmacy is now a major supplier of complementary medicines, and traditional health retailers must ensure they are offering consumers the best in healthcare experience.Please forward comments with regard to the consultation draft Complementary Medicine Retailer’s Code of Practice to
standards@chc.org.au before
23rd March 2012.
Consultation Draft Complementary Medicine Retailer's Code of Practice
The CHC Sports Supplements Industry Group Code of Practice
(Currently under review).
