TCM firms should 'learn rules of West'

"Companies that are successful have staff from the US or (they have) Chinese that have lived in the US. They really understand the legal system," said Crowther. "If a company wants to enter the US market, it should hire a US consultant or someone who understands how to navigate the system."

Nevertheless, TCM is gaining in acceptance in the US, said Huang Lixin, president of the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which is based in San Francisco.

"Among the 50 states, 43 have passed legislation and regard TCM acupuncture as a legal method of treatment," she said.

Australia is also warming to TCM, said Lin Ziqiang, vice-president of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies.

"Victoria was the first state in Australia to recognize the legal status of a TCM doctor in 2000. By 2012 all the states in the country had given TCM doctors legal status. Now in Australia, licensed TCM practitioners are regarded as doctors like modern medicine practitioners," he said.

Lin said there are about 4,000 doctors in Australia who have been licensed and are allowed to treat people using traditional Chinese methods and to prescribe traditional Chinese medicines.

One major challenge in the country, however, is the quality of TCM ingredients and products.

"Problems, such as high amounts of heavy metal and pesticides, seriously hinder the development of TCM. TCM companies haven't set aside money to conduct rigorous studies to develop a kind of medicine that is accepted by the West," he said.