Chinese herbal medicine is criticized time and time again for using herbal substances which are unecological and not ethical towards animals. This criticism is partly justified. Tiger bone, rhinoceros horn and bear gall are examples of products that have a significance in Chinese medicine and were also used in the past. They are still being traded on the black market today.

Chinese medicine is a holistic medical system and perceives humans as part of nature. Accurate observations of nature allow conclusions to be drawn about processes in the body. Man, as part of the cosmos, is a microcosm. Only in a healthy and intact environment can man feel comfortable and stay healthy.

For LIAN, this holistic understanding of man and nature, of illness and health, also means compliance with ecological and ethical principles. We strive to put environmental safety, sustainability and ethics at the top of the list, and choose our product range accordingly, even if that means that we can not offer a medically important product temporarily or permanently. The medical importance of a product must not lead to the exploitation of nature and unethical behavior. In any case, however, we strive to provide as complete a substitute as possible for missing medicines and advise our customers how the products can be substituted.

CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Over 160 countries have joined and support the agreement. CITES aims to ensure that trade in plants and animals does not endanger their survival. Medicinal products of plant or animal origin, whose "origins" are listed as endangered in the CITES appendices, may not be traded or are subject to restrictions. For species of Appendices II and III, an official CITES certificate is required which certifies that the plant or animal originates from cultivation or breeding and not from the wild. Although the acquisition of CITES certificates in China is partly bureaucratic and laborious, we adhere to this. Only in this way can the convention be work for protected species. Moreover, importing without a certification is illegal. Arguments like: "Turtle shells are simply waste products of soup production" are insufficient for us and ignore the principle that the protection of the nature and environmental requires efforts from everyone. This also applies to the conservation of endangered animal and plant species. We do not support ethically questionable animal husbandry practices. For this reason we do not carry, for example, lu rong (Cervi Cornu Pantotrichum) in our range. Lu rong is a deer horn which is still supplied with blood, and it is brutally sawn off a living deer. The wounds often become infected. Lu jiao, the discarded horn, must suffice as a substitute, although its potency as a yang tonic is inferior. A stronger effect can not justify the violation of ethical principles.

The following substances commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine are obtained from animal or plant species that are specified by CITES as endangered. LIAN distributes these substances only if an official CITES certificate is available: