The exporters of Ayurvedic products to the European Union (EU) will have to follow the new regulations adopted by the EU, which would come into force after March 2011.
It would be imperative on the part of exporters to adhere to the norms, said B. Anand, Joint Secretary, Department of Ayush, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. He was talking to newspersons here on Friday at the Global Ayurveda Summit, organised by CII and Ayush.
The Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products (THMP) directive would restrict the export of medicinal herb products through fresh norms. A THMP registration or marketing authorisation would be required for marketing the products after March 2011.
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The products would have to be certified after undergoing a systematic process of verification which might incur high costs to the Indian manufacturer. Herbal products, traditionally marketed in the EU for 30 years, could be registered with a dossier showing quality data and ingredients which would have to be approved by the EU authorities.
Ayush is teaming up with the Quality Council of India to register herbal products and already 35 products of various companies have been listed for registration, he said. It has devised special courses for the international medical community. Some foreign universities have adopted Ayurvedic courses. Three institutions, in UK, Germany and the US, have tied up with Ayush for launching courses in Ayurveda.
Earlier, Mr. Anand said Ayurveda is the most widely recognised traditional system of Indian medicine in the global context. It is known as Complementary and Alternative Medicine or Traditional Medicine under the system adopted by World Health Organisation.
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The WHO provides brief information on the challenges faced by traditional medicine worldwide. It also gives messages and a check-list for the safety, efficacy and quality to policy-makers. Ayush is undertaking a multi-pronged, integrated and comprehensive set of activities for promoting quality education, research, standardisation of drugs and quality assurance, he said.