Vietnam should ban massage oil with bear bile extract
CITES calls for action on Animals Asia's findings
In November 2010, Animals Asia's founder and CEO, Jill Robinson, Sailing Wang, Education Officer, China and members of the China PR and Education team visited a number of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) shops in Chengdu and found a massage product containing bear bile from Vietnam for sale. The cream is called Misa Bear - Gau Misa, 30g containing 0.1% bear bile.
The cream is made by Quang Minh Pharmaceutical Company in Vietnam in co-operation with WA Pharma USA and is legally registered for sale in Vietnam.
In January 2011, Animals Asia sent an official letter to the Department of Drugs Management, under the Ministry of Health, pointing out that this product has violated a number of Vietnamese laws and regulations. We also advised that it is not on the approved list of TCM products allowed to be sold on the market. At the time, the official response from the Minsitry of Health was that they would investigate.
Earlier this year, John Sellar from CITES Secretariat (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) visited Vietnam where Jill and Animals Asia's Vietnam Director, Tuan Bendixsen met with him to discuss the issue of this product. He confirmed that CITES would look into it and now in June 2011, CITES has called for the recall of the product.
