The Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong, a statutory body established in September 1999, is responsible for devising and implementing regulatory measures for Chinese medicine.

    Subsidiary legislation for the registration of Chinese medicine practitioners was enacted in June 2000. By the end of the application period in December 2000, the Chinese Medicine Council had received over 8 000 applications for listing as Chinese medicine practitioners under the transitional arrangements. The council announced the names of 7 707 listed Chinese medicine practitioners in December 2001. Assessment of the qualifications of these listed Chinese medicine practitioners for registration was completed in August 2002. The names in the first batch of registered Chinese medicine practitioners (over 2 300) were announced in November. The remaining Chinese medicine practitioners must pass a registration assessment or a licensing examination prior to registration. The Registration Assessment will be conducted in early 2003 and the first Licensing Examination in mid-2003.

    Subsidiary legislation for the regulatory control for Chinese medicines, which include licensing of traders of Chinese medicines and registration of proprietary Chinese medicines, was enacted in December. The regulatory systems would be implemented in phases from 2003.