Dear Friends of AHP,

You are likely not aware of an extremely concerning new law known as "Lex Szarlatan," the Charlatan Law. that was passed by the Poland Parliament on July 3, 2026. Colleagues in Poland are seeking signatories to a petition opposing this law. According to the official narrative around the law, herbalists, phytotherapists, naturopaths, and health educators can be labelled as charlatans and fined, regardless of qualifications or decades of experience in clinical practice.

In an attempt to help mitigate the effects of this law and to hopefully open further dialogue, Dr Christopher Etheridge FCPP, President of the European Herbal & Traditional Practitioners Association (EHTPA), has provided the following statement:

"The European Herbal & Traditional Practitioners Association (EHTPA) supports robust measures to protect the public from fraud and unsafe practice. At the same time, we believe that regulation affecting herbal and traditional practitioners should be based on clear legal definitions, proportionate standards, appropriate education and professional accountability, so that legitimate, qualified practitioners are not inadvertently stigmatised alongside those who make fraudulent or unsafe claims. We encourage constructive dialogue between policymakers, healthcare professionals and practitioner organisations to achieve both public protection and fair recognition of Europe's diverse herbal traditions.”

To support herbal medicine in Poland, we hope you will be motivated to sign a petition to the President of Poland, which currently has more than 33,500 signatures and is being publicly endorsed by Dr Henryk Różański, one of Poland's leading phytotherapists. The petition can be accessed and translated to English via this link: https://secure.avaaz.org/community_petitions/pl/prezydenta_rzeczypospolitej_polskiej_zatrzymajmy_lex_szarlatan/

We hope you will join with AHP and GAIHM to support our global herbal community!

Roy Upton, President, American Herbal Pharmacopoeia

Founder, Global Alliance for Integrative Health & Medicine (GAIHM)

For more information about AHP, or if you are interested in becoming an AHP member, please visit herbal-ahp.org. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/herbal-ahp/?viewAsMember=true