Statutory Regulation of Acupuncture

The motion

That the Parliament notes the consultation Regulation of herbal medicine and acupuncture: Proposals for statutory regulation being undertaken by Her Majesty’s Government’s Department of Health, and notes that this encompasses regulation of complementary and alternative medicine in Scotland; notes that these proposals for statutory regulation favour the establishment of a shared Complementary and Alternative Medicine Council for herbal medicine and traditional acupuncture which could then be extended to other unregulated complementary and alternative medicine professions; further notes that health delivery in Scotland is different to that in the rest of the United Kingdom and, therefore, may require different measures to the rest of the UK; notes that traditional acupuncture is a central part of the system of Chinese medicine, which is a holistic approach to health based on over 2000 years of observation and analysis, and has a distinct theoretical basis; notes the high standards of regulation, health and safety provision, extensive training and professional codes of practice of those practitioners who are accredited by the British Acupuncture Council, the UK’s main regulatory and representative body for the practice of acupuncture involving over 2,400 professionally-qualified acupuncturists; believes that Chinese medicine, as a separate system of medical practice, should be defined, governed and accredited separately and according to the current standards of the British Acupuncture Council, British Acupuncture Accreditation Board and World Health Organization; believes that medical and other practitioners working within the western medical tradition should avoid the term acupuncture unless it is used as part of the Chinese medicine medical tradition, and believes that the distinct benefits and attributes of Chinese medicine should be recognised by the creation of a separate statutory body to accredit, govern and act as a professional body to these activities.


No recorded vote on this motion. Most motions are never debated, and many that are debated are agreed without a division. Vote records are published from 2011.

Green 5 SSP 4 SNP 3 Con 1

Party shown is each supporter’s party when the motion was published.

No contribution in the Official Report cites S2M-01356 by reference.