"TCM is not like Western medicine. You can't just say that you have a headache and pop a painkiller. It is a problem that needs to be checked before medication is given. Even if there is strict quality control, how does one market the products," he says, adding THPMD is not suitable for legislating Chinese medicines.

The THPMD first became a law in the UK in 2004. McIntyre says that very few people paid enough attention to it at that time due to the seven-year transition period with it.

Products registered under the new dispensation have "very limited" till now, say British media reports, "with just 50 herbs being included". Not a single Chinese medicine product has, however, been registered.

Shen Huijun, president of the Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ATCM) in the UK, however feels that all is not lost for the TCM sector even if the new laws come into effect.

In the UK market, according to Shen, acupuncture accounts for 60 percent of the sector while herbal medicines constitute the rest.

Even when the THMPD is fully implemented, only the industrially manufactured herbal products will be banned. They only account for about a quarter of the all the Chinese herbal medicines in the market. The sale of loose herbs and other self-made products will not face any restrictions, he says.

Shen also says that there is even "no need for retailers to withdraw manufactured products immediately, as retail sales are allowed till the shelf life of the products expire".

At the London branch of Tongrentang, a Beijing-based time-honored TCM brand and the biggest TCM producer in China, it is business as usual. Employees at the facility say that they have so far not received any notice to withdraw products or make any significant changes.

Over 150 Chinese herbal medicine remedies, mainly those for curing depression, gynecology and skin diseases, are popular in the UK. Shen, however, admits that some TCM product pharmacies may go out of business when the THPMD is fully effective. "But the sector will survive," he says.

Silver lining

Even as the THPMD clouds gather, TCM practitioners are busy looking for new strategies to continue their business.

Another development that may augur well for the industry is expected to come out next year. From 2012, the British government plans to introduce additional statutory regulations for all herbal medicine practitioners and will be enforced by the Health Professions Council (HPC). The new rules intends to give herbal therapists licenses to prescribe unlicensed herbal medicines that have not been registered under the THMPD.

"We initially thought that there was no hope until the HPC registration for herbal medicine practitioners was launched. Now, we feel that there's a ray of hope," says Mei.

But with HPC registrations not slated to start until April 2012, the intervening period may be tough for TCM pharmacies, says Mei.

But the important thing is that the new dispensation means that TCM practitioners will finally get legal status in the UK, says Mei, who has been fighting for decade to push TCM into the mainstream.

There are roughly around 2,000 TCM clinics and practitioners in the UK. Currently, anyone, including those without any academic and strict training, can open a clinic and call himself/herself as a TCM doctor.

The House of Lords in November 2001 submitted a report on complimentary medicine and acupuncture to the government, marking the start of the effort to legally regulate TCM and other herbal medicine practitioners. The HPC was founded a year later.

On Feb 16 this year, British Health Secretary Andrew Lansley reiterated his government's decision to enforce the regulation from April 2012.

"It will no longer be legal for herbal practitioners in the UK to source unlicensed manufactured herbal medicines for their patients as the THMPD takes full effect in May," Lansley says in a written statement to the Parliament. "This Government wishes to ensure that the public can continue to have access to these products," the statement says.

"The major roadblock for TCM practitioners would be their ability to master English and it could finally tip the scales for an HPC registration," says Shen.

A key criterion of the HPC registration is that all TCM practitioners should achieve a score of 6.5 in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). That score is equivalent to the entry requirement for master's degrees in most British universities.

Shen feels that over 70 percent of ATCM's 740 members, who are all well-trained TCM doctors, will not be able to achieve that score, especially the elder ones. "It's impossible for them to learn English at their ages."

The ATCM, one of the oldest and biggest TCM practitioners' organization in the UK, is now in talks with the HPC, to lower the English score threshold.