Anyone who has considered Hoodia diet pills and has done any research on them has read about the importance of looking for a CITES certificate to identify authentic Hoodia Gordonii. I often wonder if people even understand what the certificate is and why it so important to look for one. If you have a basic understanding of what a CITES certificate is and what its role is within the Hoodia trade, you’ll know why looking for one is so important when trying to find authentic Hoodia Gordonii.
The Hoodia gordonii plant is a protected plant that is in high demand. This cactus looking plant used to only grow in the wilds of South Africa. However, the increased demand for the plant, because of its Weight Loss properties, has prompted many people to begin farming the plant. This led South Africa to put regulations on the plant. Regulations that not only would protect the plant, but the San people who claim it as their native plant. There are controls in place that now regulate the growing, harvesting and exportation of the Hoodia Gordonii plant.
As a consumer, one of the regulations that you should know about is the CITES certificate. While there are other documents involved in the Hoodia gordonii trade market, I am going to limit this article to the discussion of the CITES certificate. CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The certificate serves as an international agreement between countries that, in essence, protects the plant from being threatened due to trade.
For Hoodia Gordonii to be exported from South Africa by a company, they must first obtain an export permit from CITES. There is no getting around it. Any shipments of Hoodia gordonii out of South Africa must have these CITES permits. These permits are valid for six months. This means someone who has obtained a CITES permit has six months to get their shipment of Hoodia Gordonii exported. If they fail to get their shipment out within six months, they must reapply and ask for a new permit.
There has been a lot of confusion about the dates on CITES permits. Some people are made to believe that the dates on these permits must be “current” or the company involved in the selling of Hoodia gordonii is shady or lying. A CITES certificate that is outdated or old is just that - which means the six month window of exportation has expired.
When someone exports Hoodia Gordonii from South Africa, the original CITES permit stays with the inventory until it is gone. If a supplier exports thousands of kilograms of Hoodia on one permit, they may not sell out of it for months and months. Yes, the date on the CITES permit will be expired, but the permit itself is still valid and proves the Hoodia Gordonii is legal and authentic. Just because a CITES permit may have expired doesn’t mean the plant that is being used is a fake, or that shady practices are involved in the business.
Another point to keep in mind is that the company or supplier shown on a CITES certificate doesn’t always match the name of the company selling the actual end product. For example, you may be interested in buying a Hoodia supplement from “Helen’s Health Company” so you go to their website and you view their CITES certificate. Everything checks out except you notice the supplier shown on the permit is a company called, “Supplier Incorporated.” Shouldn’t the company listed on the permit be Helen’s Health Company? Not always.
Supplement companies purchase their Hoodia Gordonii from suppliers. Suppliers are the ones that are listed on the CITES permits. These are the companies that actually go in and export the Hoodia out of South Africa. There are only a limited number of suppliers who can obtain CITES permits. In the above example, the ABC Company is the supplier of the Hoodia Gordonii to the XYZ Company.
You should know that just because a website displays a CITES certificate doesn’t guarantee that they are packing their capsules with 100% pure Hoodia gordonii. Since all Hoodia products are supplements and supplements are not regulated, some companies make claims about their products that aren’t true. Just because a company has a CITES permit doesn’t mean they are packaging their Hoodia in a way that is beneficial to Weight Loss. In other words, a CITES permit should not be a green light for you to assume the product that is being sold is pure Hoodia Gordonii.
That is not always true. Keep in mind that the only thing a CITES permit proves is that a supplier was given the right to export “X amount” of Hoodia Gordonii from South Africa. Once the supply is exported, the supplier and any company purchasing Hoodia from the supplier can do what they want with the Hoodia Gordonii. A company may claim they are selling a Hoodia diet pill that contains 500mg of authentic Hoodia Gordonii, and while they may have a CITES certificate for the supply they purchased, they may not use a full 500mg in each capsule! They may only use 250mg or 150mg or whatever may be the case.
I hope you now see what the CITES certificate is, and what it isn’t. Now that you know the role of the CITES certificate in helping you identify pure Hoodia Gordonii, you can find the Hoodia products that are authentic.
Tags : herbal remedy alternative Hoodia
