With little success India could achieve so far through negotiations to reverse the  restrictions imposed on herbal products by European Union from May 1, the Commerce Ministry has now suggested the Ayush Department to explore other markets.

“Herbals/traditional medicine is another significant area requiring substantial policy interventions. We have been approaching the European Union to deal with problems arising out of their registration process and the simplified version of it called the Traditional Herbal Medicine Products Directive (THMPD) with little success so far. It is important that we explore other markets also,” the Ministry told Ayush Department through a note detailing strategic measures to increase pharma exports from the country.

It has suggested that the attention now should be focussed on 25 more identified important traditional medicine products, selected purely on the considerations of their acceptance in the export markets and then work around those products for pharmacopoeia development, marketing tie-ups and regulatory facilitation.

“Secondly, we should institutionalize cooperation agreements with territories where traditional medicine has strong roots such as South Asia, South East Asia (ASEAN) some CIS countries and African countries. The agreement within South Asia is the first effort required. We also need to work towards getting traditional medicine practitioner access to these markets because they will carry with them traditional medicine from India,” the note said.

The Ministry also suggested setting up of herbal industrial parks on the lines of Jawaharlal Nehru Pharma City (JNPC) at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The national priority 25 herbals should be processed into GMP facilities and infrastructure for necessary conversion into end use formulations be provided. Most herbal dealers do not enjoy this infrastructure and the value addition is unnecessarily lost, the ministry said.

The Ayush department, with the help of the Commerce Ministry, has been holding talks with the European Union for long to ease the restrictions on Ayurveda drugs, but could not make any success so far. According to the ban order came into force from May 1, a company needs to demonstrate its efficacy and safety through traditional use for at least 30 years of which 15 years should be within EU. The new guideline mandates registration of an herbal medicine.