There is little understanding of, or information about, CAM products, their use, or multifarious issues surrounding them in New Zealand. It is therefore unsurprising that NZ has lacked effective CAM product regulation for decades. Following a review of surrounding legislation, and a preliminary investigation into CAM product prevalence and perceptions, this research proposes new legislation for the regulation of CAM products, which takes a forward-looking, evidence-based approach to succeed where numerous other proposals have failed.

CAM products are effective unregulated in New Zealand, with the Dietary Supplements Regulations 1985 being sorely outdated, and every new proposal for the past three decades failing to come to fruition. As a result, general legislation like the Fair Trading Act 1986 is used to handle misleading or deceptive conduct in relation to CAM products, although its regulation of these products is inherently limited.

The two pieces of quantitative research in this thesis consider the habits and perceptions of New Zealanders around CAM products; first studying students, and second broadening the scope to collect data from a representative sample of New Zealanders. With 80% of New Zealanders having used CAM products, and a significant number being misled by the labelling and packaging on these products, new regulations around CAM products must address these issues to protect consumers.

This thesis proposes a new piece of legislation for the risk-based regulation of CAM products in NZ. Through adaptation of regulatory models and provisions utilised in other legislation, this proposed CAM Products Bill establishes an effective risk-based approach, which categorises CAM products into three tiers, plus a black-list for prohibited ingredients or products. This is a pre-approval scheme that links the evidence, safety, and research on the CAM product, to the fee structure, indirectly encouraging industry research and development into safe, quality and effective CAM products. Additionally, this Bill proposes a sound administrative structure and effective enforcement measures which have a history of use with CAM products.

Ultimately, this proposed legislation will fill the void which currently exists around CAM product regulation in NZ, particularly following the withdrawal by the new Labour Government of the Natural Health and Supplementary Products Bill in November 2017. It also addresses systemic problems of an information deficit by incentivising research into CAM products, and regulating in a manner that promotes scientific evidence, safety, efficacy, honest information for consumers, and high-quality CAM products through soft-touch risk-based CAM product legislation.