MORATORIUM ON HOODIA EXPORTS FROM SOUTH AFRICA

An article published in the "Cape Times" on 11/24/06 stated that there has been a moratorium placed on Hoodia exports from South Africa due to illegal harvesting and exportation of the plant. I have discussed the authentication and exportation process of genuine Hoodia from South Africa in some of my earlier posts, along with the fact that pure, genuine Hoodia Gordonii is a rare and expensive product. It now appears that the product has been exploited so much by people trying to get rich quickly by selling products that contain little pure Hoodia that the plant is in danger of extinction within two years unless drastic action is taken by the South African governments. The exportation of Hoodia has been banned at this time until the governments are able to gain control of illegal harvesting and exportation of this rare succulent.

You can read some of my earlier posts regarding the governmental controls over the exportation and importation of Hoodia Gordonii, including the CITES certificate that is issued by the government of South Africa allowing for legal export of the plant.

Hoodia's active appetite suppressant ingredient was patented in 1997 and the South African government signed a license agreement with a British pharmaceutical company to market it as a weight-loss aid. The sad thing is that this was all done without involvement of the San Bushmen, who have used Hoodia as an appetite suppressant and thirst quencher for thousands of years while on long hunting trips in the desert; the San Bushmen and their knowledge of the plant's properties are what led to the research of Hoodia in the first place. I will also add that the San Bushmen have not been the ones to profit from the lucrative exportation of the product, either.