§ Mr. John Horam (Orpington)The petition that I have the pleasure of presenting is on behalf of more than 600 consumers of food supplements and natural health products in Petts Wood, Orpington and the surrounding areas. The signatures were collected by the Health Matters store in Petts Wood in my constituency.
The petition declares:
Consumers in the United Kingdom have for many years maintained good health by choosing to take safe vitamin and mineral supplements and herbal remedies and fear that the European Food Supplements Directive and the proposed European Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products would severely restrict the number and range of such products on general retail sale in the future.The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons requires that the Secretary of State for Health does all in his power to protect the rights of UK consumers by ensuring that such European legislation does not unnecessarily and unacceptably restrict the availability of natural health products.And the petitioners remain, etc.To lie upon the Table.
§ Mr. Richard Allan (Sheffield, Hallam)The House may have a strange sense of déjà vu when I present my petition on behalf of Ralph Pike, who has collected 5,435 signatures on behalf of Consumers for Health Choice. The petition states:
Consumers in the United Kingdom have for many years maintained good health by choosing to take safe vitamin and mineral supplements and herbal remedies and fears that the European Food Supplements Directive and the proposed European Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products would severely restrict the number and range of such products on general retail sale in the future.The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons requires that the Secretary of State for Health does all in his power to protect the rights of UK consumers by ensuring that such European legislation does not unnecessarily and unacceptably restrict the availability of natural health products.And the petitioners remain, etc.To lie upon the Table.
§ Mr. Peter Viggers (Gosport)My petition is identical to the two that have just been introduced, so I shall not repeat the text. In this case, the petition was organised by Mr. Fordham of the Spice of Life health food shop in Bemisters lane, Gosport, and was signed by more than 200 of my constituents. The fact that an identical petition should come from three different constituencies underlines the widespread concern about the matter.
To lie upon the Table.