Canadian Council of Herbalist Associations (CCHA)
Who is the CCHA?
The CCHA is an organization founded in 2005 representing associations of herbal therapists that unifies, promotes and serves herbal therapists through active communication with the Canadian government in Ottawa , the public, and between all herbalist associations throughout Canada .
Herbalist Associations across Canada elect one or two of its herbalist members from each provincial association to represent them at the CCHA level. The CCHA is composed of these elected herbalists.
Since 2005 the CCHA members annually meet with government natural health product officials in Ottawa annually to make our concerns known, ensure our right to practice our profession, stay on top of upcoming regulatory items and work towards more ideal regulations. The CCHA also continue their work with monthly meetings and phone conference calls. The volunteer time, work behind the scenes and financial expenses of these individuals have been enormous. They are all volunteers. These individuals have been representing our profession in our local communities. These individuals have representing you.
The mandate of the CCHA
- To have herbal therapists recognized as the experts on herbal medicine in Canada
- To facilitate unity among many associations of herbal therapists
- To guide member associations in setting standards (education, practice, ethics, etc).
- To provide a national representation of member associations to the provincial and federal governments in discussions of any and all legislation affecting herbal therapists and legislation of natural health products as it affects herbal therapists.
Some activities of the CCHA:
- Council to develop a consensus position among member associations with regard to federal, provincial and territorial regulatory issues and represent consensus position to federal, provincial and territorial regulatory governments.
- Ongoing annual discussions at the federal government level regarding the Compounding Policy and continued assurance of the professional herbalist’s continued right to compound and prepare medicines for clients (without needing to obtain a government approved site license for manufacturing).
- Ongoing annual discussions at the federal government level and continued assurance of our ability to import our bulk tinctures into Canada without a Good Manufacturing Procedures and a site license.
- Continued confirmation from Ottawa that herbalists have access to all of our medicinal herbs, and no plans exist to restrict this access.
- The council represents member associations that must have standards of practice and grievance procedures such as: code of ethics, code of practice, scope of practice, educational standards and disciplinary procedures. With changing regulations, these details will be necessary for the continued recognition of our profession in Canada . The goal is to complete these documents by the end of 2010 and provide to member associations.
Highlights from the 2009 Annual CCHA Report
- The CCHA spent most of 2009 laying the foundation for the creation of National Scopes of Practice, Codes of conduct, Ethics and Disciplinary procedures. The main objective is to design guidelines that could be used by all traditions of professional herbalists, in Canada . By defining the practice of herbal medicine and setting out good practice guidelines, that honors all traditions, we hope to unify the voice of Professional Herbalists and strengthen our presence locally and nationally. When completed, these documents may be adopted as they are or can serve as templates for the member associations writing their constitutions. The CCHA will be providing member associations with the final documents by the end of 2010.
- We requested confirmation in Ottawa that we still have access to all herbs and asked if NHPD was intending to restrict access to any. They do not plan to restrict access.
- We discussed the Compounding Policy and were informed it is staying the same and no changes are planned.
- Council Meetings will be held by monthly teleconference throughout the next year, with a face to face meeting in October 2010 in Ottawa .
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