Auscan Melaleuca Ltd.

NEWSLETTER #3
OCTOBER 2001

On behalf of AUSCAN, and our Australian Plantations, we would like to express our heartfelt sympathy, and send our thoughts and prayers, to all those affected by the devastating September 11 tragedy.

Barbara B. Jones
AUSCAN Melaleuca Ltd.

MEDIA RELEASE - OCTOBER 12, 2001

The following is a news release issued by the Australian Tea Tree Industry Association (ATTIA). ATTIA Ltd. is the peak industry representative organization for pure Australian tea tree oil, liaising with government bodies in Australia and overseas. It is the research co-ordinator for national industry sponsored research. Anthony Sarks, of our Oceania Agriculture Ltd. Plantation is a Director and Secretary of ATTIA.

Peak Industry Body
Australian Tea Tree
P.O. Box 20, TWEED HEADS. NSW 2485
Crescent Street, Cudgen. NSW 2487
Ph: 02 66.742 925 Fax: 02 66.742 475
E-mail: attialtd@ozemail.com.au
Chairperson: Marilyn King
Secretary: Anthony Sarks

AUSSIE TEA TREE OIL MAKES GOOD IN EUROPE

Australian Tea Tree Oil accepted for inclusion in the European Pharmacopoeia.

“Australian Tea Tree Oil has now finally achieved this prestigious goal. It has taken a lot of resources both in time and financially. This is excellent news for the Wide Bay Burnett growers and producers,” said, Ms Marilyn King, chairman of the Australian Tea Tree Industry Association, (ATTIA Ltd).

The importance of having a monograph for tea tree oil accepted in Europe was initially raised during the Technical Committee meeting of the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) on Essential Oils in Avignon (France) in 1990. Early in 1999 the issue gained urgency.

“Scientists from Thursday Plantation Laboratories in Ballina New South Wales, actively collaborated with overseas experts to achieve this excellent outcome,” added Ms King. “This major leap forward for the tea tree industry.”

The European Pharmacopoeia is an extensive collection of monographs for therapeutic and pharmaceutical substances. It contributes significantly to the overall control of the quality of medicinal products by providing an authoritative statement of the quality that a product is expected to meet at any time during its period of use.

The publicly available and legally enforceable Pharmacopoeial standards are designed to complement and assist the licensing and inspection processes and are part of the system for safeguarding users of medicinal product.

“For a relatively brief period Australian Tea Tree Oil was officially recognised for use in pharmaceuticals in the UK and Australia when a monograph was included in the British Pharmaceutical Codex of 1949, and Martindale, Extra Pharmacopoeia – 12^th Edition, but it never made it to be included in one of the great authoritative pharmacopoeias of the world like the European Pharmacopoeia,” added Mr Christopher Dean of Thursday Plantation Laboratories.

The highly comprehensive European Tea Tree Oil Monograph was finally completed and submitted to the European Pharmacopoeia Commission for adoption and subsequent inclusion in the European Pharmacopoeia.

“The EP Commission adopted the Monograph earlier this year and Australian Tea Tree Oil is finally going to be included as a therapeutic substance in the forthcoming edition of the European Pharmacopoeia,” said Mr Dean.

“It is anticipated that this will lead to more ready acceptance of tea tree oil and tea tree oil containing therapeutic preparations by health care professionals and regulatory administrators of medicines. ATTIA Ltd and all industry stakeholders, thank Thursday Plantation Laboratories for the work they have done to achieve this excellent outcome for the Australian tea tree oil industry,” concluded Ms King.