In the regulation of proprietary Chinese medicines, what are the main differences from Western medicines in penalties for non-compliance?

Although proprietary Chinese medicines and Western medicines are regulated by different bodies (the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board), their regulatory philosophies and penalty principles are similar, with the protection of public health as the primary objective. The main differences lie in the specific legal bases and certain types of non-compliance unique to each. For example, regulation of proprietary Chinese medicines focuses particularly on quality standards for “heavy metals and toxic elements”, “pesticide residues” and “microbial limits”. Breaches of these standards are serious forms of non-compliance specific to proprietary Chinese medicines. Proprietary Chinese medicines are also subject to the issue of “unregistered proprietary Chinese medicines”, similar to “unregistered pharmaceutical products” in the case of Western medicines. In general, penalties for serious offences such as unlicensed operations and the sale of counterfeit or substandard products are severe for both, including substantial fines and imprisonment.