On 25 May, Chinese ambassador to England Mr. Ma Zhen Gang held a banquet for the board of PEFOTS at the
embassy. Minister Counsellor Li Zhao Chen and Consul General Sun Da Li were also present. Ambassador Ma
praised the members of PEFOTS for launching an organization which connects all TCM practitioners of different
European countries. He also emphasized the importance of cooperation among practitioners in the TCM field.

Recently, the Department of Ministry of Health of UK has set up a working group to formulate rules and laws in relation to the registration of Herbal practitioners, which is called the Statutory Self Regulation (SSR) for herbal medicine. These rules and laws are only applicable to herbal issues with the consequence that Chinese Materia Medica will be reduced only to herbs and that other substances are excluded. Another impact is that TCM will be divided into two separate groups, herbal medicine and acupuncture.That will necessitate a special solution
for the TCM practice. PEFOTS expressed its concern and will do the utmost to solve this problem in the future.

Mr. Dong Zhi Lin thanked the Ambassador for inviting the board of PEFOTS. Mr. Dong stated that 18 countries and more than 60 associations and institutes have joined PEFOTS.He also pointed out that PEFOTS aims to set up a democratic organization of high level and ideals.The efficacy and safety of TCM have already been proven
through thousands of years of TCM practice. So, the current SSR in UK may provide a benchmark for the other EU countries.
UK and its legislators should respect Chinese Medicine theory and practice and consider its own specificity. The Ambassador and Mr. Dong expressed their concern and Mr. Dong advised TCM practitioners in Europe to unite and to set up together with PEFOTS a representative consultant group which can discuss TCM matters with the governments and legislators in due time