resources:legal, federal, and state information

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LEGAL, FEDERAL AND STATE INFORMATION It is very important to keep abreast of legislaton that can affect the status of natural health. Student's should research the laws in their state. For updates, sign up for the ACHS Email Reporter. The following sites may assist: Citizens.org is a national information and action group. NPI Center online offers regular updates on natural health regulation worldwide. Minnesota Natural Health were the lobby group that worked on the Minnesota Freedom of Access to Complementary and Alternative Health Care Bill. You can obtain a copy of the Minnesota Legislation online. This is an excellent model for other States, and contains useful information for unlicensed providers in State's that lack legislation. Institute for Health Freedom has a good source of information state by state at http://www.forhealthfreedom.org/StateInfo/ Monica Miller's health lobby: http://www.healthlobby.com/ includes useful facts about CAM for press releases and articles, and information on state and federal issues. There is an excellent "how to" guide to lobbying health issues at http://www.healthlobby.com/advocacy.html Foundation for the Advancement of Innovative Medicine (FAIM) has updates and information at www.faim.org. For California updates, go to www.citizenshealth.org. Read the Chantilly report online at http://www.naturalhealthvillage.com/reports/council_of_sci_affairs.htm Health Freedom Watchdog offers updates of legal information across the USA and Canada. Also offers an email to notify you of legislation that can affect your freedoms. The Office of Alternative Medicine offers regular newsletters with updates that often relate to regulatory matters and illustrate support for natural health modalities. Inc. Magazine Online is an excellent tool, complete with online articles and all sorts of interesting information for the small or any size business. The CCH Business Owners Toolkit is an excellent site containing downloadable legal forms which you might need in your small business. SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) provides in-person counseling throughout the US and Puerto Rico to small business. The US Small Business Administration has an excellent site covering information relevant to Students and Graduates setting up a small business. It includes an online library and information on relevant legislation: SBA: Small Business Administration The Home page for the US Department Of Agriculture includes electronic access to crop reports and forecasts - great for herb growers. New Hope Media often cover interesting legislative issues in Natural Foods Merchandiser. One of the latest is the FDA's proposed new labeling rules. Read all about them at FDA Releases Proposed Labeling. The FDA have several home pages which are interesting. The main page is at Food & Drug Administration. The US FDA / Center for Food Safety covers Cosmetics and Dietary Supplements as well as topics which one would consider strictly "food" related. The FDA site is fairly large and complex, but a mine of information if you have some idea what you are looking for. There is also the US FDA - CDER Home Page which is the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. The Freedom of Information Reading Room is also useful. Find out about FDA requirements for marketing cosmetics in the USA in the FDA Cosmetic Handbook at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-hdb1.html or FDA/CFSAN Cosmetics table of contents The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition site is very helpful http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/list.html for further links to government sites, try: CRN - Related Web Sites Center for Disease Control and Prevention Environmental Protection Agency USDA Food and Nutrition Information Center if you want to get really serious, check out the US House of Representatives Internet Law Library The claims made by dietary supplements (which most herbal products will fall under) are governed by the Federal Trade Commission. Check out their web site at http://www.ftc.gov/ For information on New Zealand laws and Regulations, check out the NZ Government site at New Zealand Government Executive