.American consumers and herbal practitioners may unintentionally be providing economic support to bear farming activities through their choice of TCM products. Many significant Chinese medicine manufacturers produce bear bile products as a small percentage of their product lines for domestic consumers. These companies sometimes also sell a range of other products within US markets.
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) launched a new webpage in March 2010 to help US consumers and herbal practitioners find out whether the TCM products they purchase are produced by Chinese companies involved with bear farming. The webpage allows users to send customizable e-letters to US retailers of Chinese-made TCM products, asking them if their Chinese suppliers produce any bear bile products. These e-letters include a link through which contacted retailers can learn more about bear farming and obtain a template letter (in English or Chinese) that they can use when asking Chinese companies about their bear bile policies. Consumers and practitioners who send e-letters will be able to post retailers’ responses to the webpage.
WSPA plans to acknowledge on its website those US retailers who agree to stop selling medicines produced by companies that manufacture bear bile medicines, and it will also include a list of Chinese companies that pledge to stop producing these products or claim to have never done so. Any companies found to violate such a pledge will also be identified on the website.
Through this campaign, WSPA hopes to illustrate to Chinese companies that participation in bear farming is detrimental to growth in Western markets. The webpage is available at: www.endbearfarming.org/tcmaction.
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) launched a new webpage in March 2010 to help US consumers and herbal practitioners find out whether the TCM products they purchase are produced by Chinese companies involved with bear farming. The webpage allows users to send customizable e-letters to US retailers of Chinese-made TCM products, asking them if their Chinese suppliers produce any bear bile products. These e-letters include a link through which contacted retailers can learn more about bear farming and obtain a template letter (in English or Chinese) that they can use when asking Chinese companies about their bear bile policies. Consumers and practitioners who send e-letters will be able to post retailers’ responses to the webpage.
WSPA plans to acknowledge on its website those US retailers who agree to stop selling medicines produced by companies that manufacture bear bile medicines, and it will also include a list of Chinese companies that pledge to stop producing these products or claim to have never done so. Any companies found to violate such a pledge will also be identified on the website.
Through this campaign, WSPA hopes to illustrate to Chinese companies that participation in bear farming is detrimental to growth in Western markets. The webpage is available at: www.endbearfarming.org/tcmaction.
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