India, US to jointly promote ayurvedic, herbal products in US

Both India and the US will work together to promote ayurvedic and herbal products in the US. Senior officials from US and India discussed  the issue in detail recently.

The meeting also focused on the scope of developing market for traditional medicines in the US. According to Dr P V Appaji, executive director, Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council (Pharmexcil), “There is a growing need for data on safety and  efficacy among drug regulators of the countries around the world.  Need of the hour is to improve our understanding on regulatory requirements so that we can penetrate these countries. In the  meeting we have expressed our interest in adopting the same  style that the Chinese have adopted in the US for promotion of our ayurvedic and herbal products in the US.”

Aiming to step up ayurvedic exports to the US, Dr Rajeev Kher,  joint secretary, Department of Commerce had a meeting with  professor Ikhlas A Khan, director, FDA Programme, NCNPR and Centre for Research in Indian Systems of Medicine (CRISM)-USA.  A proposal was made for more interactions, meetings and exchange of dialogs with the US officials and regulatory bodies for understanding the US requirements for herbal product registration.

He stressed that there is a need to have more interactions with  officials of different countries to help all the players in the trade  of ayurvedic products to understand consumer demands and quality parameters in International market and develop methods  of production that meet those demands of product quality and efficacy.

Dr Appaji informed that at present, over Rs.42000 crore worth of bulk drugs and modern ayurvedic medicines are exported from  India to various countries and of which about Rs.600 crore worth  is pure ayurvedic products. This year the exports of ayurvedic products have seen a 20 per cent growth. However there is hope  that in the coming financial year it will be over 25 per cent.

“We hope to see more of such meetings so that we can promote responsible trade and commerce of ASU products and help in improving market opportunities for companies that sell these  products,” Dr Appaji said. This meeting was held in Delhi subsequent to the buyer seller meet, organised by Pharmexcil at the 4th edition of the  World Ayurveda Congress and Arogya Expo held in Bengaluru from December 9th to 13th. The main objective behind organising the buyer-seller meet was to tap the export potential and the future  course of the ayurvedic products in the international market in the coming years. Dr Appaji, pointed out that the buyer seller meet with the Indian companies. “Though we cannot disclose the business  attracted lot of interest from the international community in having business  that had taken place during this event, we can assure that we had a   positive response from companies. The interest level had gone  up like anything with good number of business leads under the belt for many Indian companies.” The business meet deliberated on many key points that will direct the future course of the export market. Around 180 Indian companies had participated in this buyer seller meet along  with over 39 overseas participants from 15 countries. The  buyer seller meet was also attended by Michael Mcguffin,  president, American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), USA.  The overwhelming participation and the subsequent meetings clearly proved the global popularity of ayurveda and associated  fields and India's position in it. Source:Pharmabiz