Food is generally not viewed as a medicinal product. However, advertisements for food which bear therapeutic claims may result in the food being classified as a medicinal product. In the United States and Malaysia, the general rule is that food is classified as a medicinal product if therapeutic claims are made in the advertisements. The general rule is, however, subject to exemptions, and the exemptions in the two jurisdictions vary considerably. This article examines the implications of these exemptions for consumer protection in the two jurisdictions. It explores whether or not there is inadequate protection for consumers when food, which qualifies as a medicinal product, is not so classified and, accordingly subject to regulation as a medical product.

Taking the macromarketing approach to insect food and feed, we study how the global insect marketing system is impacted by the global insect regulatory system. As an illustration, we study how the regulations of the European Union, USA, Canada and Australia impact marketing strategies of individual companies, and how company-level behaviour combines into the dynamics of the whole insect marketing system. The output of the global insect marketing system is the global assortment of insect products. The regulatory system has its topics, content, and tools with differences between countries. Topics are the elements of the insect business that regulators care about. Content determines what insect products can be launched. Tools are the regulatory instruments and sanctions. Regulatory differences between countries are an important determinant in the geography of launch patterns and in the resulting global assortment of insect products available.

The Second Edition of Law of Evidence in Malaysia is written by experienced academics. It continues to use simple language to assist students and legal practitioners with an understanding of the evidence law in Malaysia. The chapters have been rearranged to provide better flow and connectivity between them. This Second Edition incorporates three additional chapters, i.e. Judicial Notice in Chapter 8, Production and Examination of Witnesses in Chapter 12 and Estoppel in Chapter 14. The chapter on Judicial Notice covers the application of section 57 of the Evidence Act 1950 as well as judicial notice under the common and general knowledge. The chapter on Estoppel, on the other hand, explores the common law standing on estoppel and that provided under sections 115-117 of the Evidence Act 950.

The internet offers significant benefits to consumers in the form of greater and easier access to detailed information as well as convenient access to healthcare information but also for prescriptions and medical advice. The Malaysian government embarked on building a healthcare information system for the 21st century through its Tele-health Project 2000. The said project aims to keep people healthy through a virtual healthcare information system. One important aspect of healthcare is pharmaceuticals. Although there are undoubted benefits of online pharmacies such as competitive prices, convenience and privacy, but there are potential risk involved as well, one of which is false and misleading information. Malaysia has developed some significant laws primarily to protect its consumers. These piecemeal laws have been able to meet the basic objectives of consumer protection as and when required. However, the concept of online pharmacy demands more comprehensive consumer protection. This article explores if a specific law governing the advertising of pharmaceutical products by online pharmacies is needed. In doing so, it examines the legal issues associated with online advertising of pharmaceutical products and the extent to which existing laws governing the advertising of the same is adequate.

Science has revolutionized the reproductive environment. At the current era of advance science and technology the impossible, unimaginable or unthinkable is achievable. It has not only been made possible for a woman to have sexual intercourse without getting pregnant, but also to get pregnant without sexual intercourse. One of such means is through surrogacy. In a surrogacy arrangement a woman known as the 'surrogate mother' consents to bear a child for a childless couple. The surrogate mother is impregnated either by artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization. After carrying the child for forty weeks and delivering the child thereafter, the child is handed to the custody of the childless couple. The surrogate's ties or bond with the child ends upon the delivery of the child. However, as simple as it sounds, surrogacy arrangements raise many dilemmas in the context of law, religion, morality, custom and culture. This article looks at the legal, moral and religious implications arising in surrogacy arrangements. Should surrogacy arrangements be treated as a mere contract? What is the validity of such arrangements and the moral issues arising in the Malaysian perspective?

In Malaysia, sellers are required to submit advertisements with medicinal claims to the Medicine Advertisement Board of Malaysia (MAB) for a review before the advertisements can be published or broadcast. The MAB is responsible to approve the claims in the advertisements before the products bearing them may be marketed to consumers. This form of regulatory control, which is known as a system of pre-approval of advertisements, is carried out to prevent irreparable harm that may be caused by advertising. Advertisements are checked for not only untrue, misleading or highly exaggerated medicinal claims but also impermissible claims. Whilst Malaysia exercises a system of pre-approval of advertisements of medicines and thereby is able to prevent a fraction of deceptive advertisements from reaching the public, the system is arguably inadequate given the increasing number of deceptive claims in advertisements. This paper aims to examine the system of pre-approval of advertisements in Malaysia by way of comparison with the system in Australia, and suggest how the system may be improved so as to ensure a better protection to consumers who rely on advertisements with medicinal claims.

Advertisements for prescription drugs directed at consumers can empower consumers by providing information on potential treatments for their ailments. Ideally, this information may also enable them to make informed decisions, lead to an early diagnosis or treatment of illnesses, or assist in their discussions with physicians. It has been argued, however, that information in such advertisements is, among other things, biased, misleading and causes unnecessary medication. Such advertising is currently prohibited in Malaysia. It is, however, permitted in the United States of America, New Zealand, and Canada, although under different constraints. This article explores the benefits and the detriments of advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers. It also examines the existing regulatory control of medicines in Malaysia and argues that Malaysia, should maintain its existing approach.

The definition of food applied in Finland is the European Union's definition: the Finnish Food Act (23/2006), section 6, merely refers to Article 2 of the General Food Regulation of the EU.575. The Finnish Criminal Code (39/1889) refers to the Food Act. The concept of food includes food supplements and drinking water. Cosmetic and tobacco products are not included.

The term 'drug' is defined as '[including] any substance, product or article intended to be used or capable, or purported or claimed to be capable, of being used on humans or any animal, whether internally or externally, for medicinal purposes' under s 2 of the Sale of Drugs Act 1952 (Malaysia). Further, the term 'medicinal purposes' is elaborated to mean any of the following purposes: '(a) alleviating, treating, curing or preventing a disease or a pathological condition or symptoms of a disease; (b) diagnosing a disease or ascertaining the existence, degree or extent of a physiological or pathological condition; (c) contraception; (d) inducing anaesthesia; (e) maintaining, modifying, preventing, restoring, or interfering with, the normal operation of a physiological function; (f) controlling body weight; and (g) general maintenance or promotion of health or well-being'. By this definition, groups of products with medicinal value or products which are intended to be used for medicinal, remedial or therapeutic purposes, such as diagnosing, curing, mitigating, treating or preventing diseases are referred to as medicinal products. Medicinal products broadly include prescription drugs (PD) and non-prescription drugs (NPD) and products which fall in the interfaces between 'food and drugs' or 'food and cosmetics'. The advertising of such products is regulated by the Medicine Advertisement Board (MAB) under the Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956. However, despite rigid regulatory controls, the problem of prohibited claims or deceptive claims in advertisements of medicinal products has not been effectively curtailed. To what extent this problem is contributed by inadequacies in the Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956 is examined in this paper. The paper also explores how the main inadequacies in the Act could be addressed through an involvement by industries in the regulation.

Corporate governance has attracted significant focus both in both Australia and other countries, particularly in light of large corporate collapses over recent decades. With an increase in the focus on corporate governance, many countries have adopted voluntary codes of corporate governance and require corporations to explain deviations from best practice (‘comply or explain’).
The Australian Securities Exchange Corporate Governance Council (ASXCGC) was formed in August 2002, and released a set of best practice governance principles in 2003 containing the ‘if not, why not’ (comply or explain) provision. The best practice principles and recommendations are extensive, with the current (3rd) version containing eight principles and 29 recommendations. However, in spite of over a decade of use, it is not currently understood how company directors make sense of and enact the 29 recommendations.
The effective practice of corporate governance of Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) top 200 companies (ASX200) is critical to the reputation and conduct of wealth and prosperity in the Australian economy. This thesis studies the ways in which ASX200 directors describe the practice of governance against the ASXCGC Principles and Recommendations. It highlights the dominant and the normalised factors for directors in the practice of the principles and recommendations and proposes an interpretative model of practice to assist directors to hone their governance practice. The model could also be useful for future and current company directors, governance practitioners and regulators of listed and unlisted companies in Australia.