Aromatherapy mergers, failed mergers, etc.

Mergers, failed mergers and updates on the organisations.

I have trimmed the information that was on this page over the IFA - IFPA merger as it is now out of date. Please read the page on Statutory regulation which relates to this page, and is more up to date.

This is but a snippet of the history of our trade associations and the way the leaders pull the wool over the eyes of ordinary members.

Latest update Jan. 2003.
I have been taken aback by a decision taken by the IFA council to rejoin the AOC. It was hoped by many that the AOC would fall apart and that the ICM would take its place. However, this decision by the IFA council will simply resurrect an organisation that I have not a shred of respect for. The AOC includes some of the people involved in the underhand dealings over the IFA/IFPA merger plans. So I will go back to my old position of attacking all these incompetent trade organisations. From NAHA in the USA, to the CFA in Canada and to all the UK organisations, it seems none of them want to get to grips with lousy education and the con artists endemic in the trade. Instead they constantly hoodwink their members, the public and politicians that they are respectable and respected organisations.

Having just read the IFPAs three journals published to date, it is quiet obvious that this organisation have no intention of telling the truth to their members. There is no mention in the latest journal of the clashes that occurred at their Annual conference which led to several members reconsidering their support for it. Gabriel Mojay was very upset when a member had the audacity to refuse to vote for him and he made his feelings known publicly. So much for their claims to being a democratic organisation, what a joke! Some talk a lot about democracy but that is simply to pander to their cult followers.

It is very interesting that leading members of the former ISPA can get away with teaching subjects such as essential oil chemistry when they themselves have had no experience in the oils supply trade or in analytical methods specific to that trade. Of course many students seem to think that if someone declares they are a DR. that this person must be knowledgeable on what they teach. Please never ever make such assumption and ask straight questions on what your lecturers qualifications are in. Could it perhaps be their degree is in religion, or rubber technology perhaps.

Update Oct. 2002:
The IFA has issued a statement about events leading up to the planned merger which fully vindicates my earlier statements:

The IFPA and its supporters have frequently claimed that "the majority voted for a merger". The latest data from the IFA shows a very different story. Out of 1800 IFA members only 644 returned ballot papers and 605 voted in favour of exploring the possibility of a merger NOT on the actual merger as the IFPA tries to imply with its usual spin.

The IFA document also states: "at no time was the IFA council given permission to go ahead and sign papers to form a new association". Also, "at no time were members consulted on the format for the constitution of the new association".

Update 28th June:
I have had an astonishing piece of information from the UK Charity Commission where they say: "Charity trustees do not act on behalf of their membership, rather their concern is in the proper and effective administration and its property for public benefit". The reason this is astonishing, is because it means officers of any organisation can establish a new charity without any mandate from the members of the organisations they represent.

So the moral of this is - do not expect UK authorities to protect you from any abuse of power by the people you elect to leading positions. Thank goodness some people in the IFA recognised potential abuse of power and took actions to inhibit it on behalf of their membership.

As most of my readers know, I have been a strong opponent of the majority of aromatherapy organisations for many years. The reasons why are spelled out in other articles on this site.

All I ever see are attempts by a few individuals to gain power for their own purposes. The lofty statements made by the leading figures involved just look like the usual hot air commonly used in aromatherapy to fool a gullible audience. The AOC has been doing just that for years, so perhaps these people have learnt something from that crowd.

The bulk of the members of most of these organisations only join to get their insurance and take no part in running the organisation. Therefore, this leaves it wide open for clever confidence tricksters to take over organisations for their personal benefit.

People may be interested to know of what happens to those people such as myself and others who oppose attempts by a tiny clique to take the trade over. WE are called by those individuals "destructive to the trade" and "negative", and the minds of therapists, Civil Servants and others in Complementary medicine are poisoned against us.

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