The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has circulated a proposal for a new field of activity on medicinal plants. As the U.S. member body to ISO, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) invites all relevant and interested stakeholders to submit comments on the proposal by the end of the business day on Friday, November 4, 2016.
The proposal, submitted by the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran (ISIRI), explains that with the rise of herbal medicine use worldwide and the rapid expansion of the global market, the safety and quality of herbal materials and finished herbal products have become major concerns for health authorities, pharmaceutical industries, and the public. On a global scale, this field of activity will be commercially beneficial to all countries that manufacture or use medicinal plants, including the U.S., China, India, Iran, Germany, Britain, Japan, Turkey, Italy, South Africa, Australia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and others.
The document proposes standardization activities in the field of medicinal plants as well as medicinal plants propagation materials, including terminology, sampling, test methods and analysis, product specifications, safety and quality requirements for packaging, storage, and transportation.
All interested stakeholders are invited toreview the proposal, which includes listings of relevant documents at the international, regional, and national levels, as well as affected stakeholder categories that may benefit from or be impacted by the proposed standard.
Please submit comments to Steve Cornish, ANSI senior director of international policy ([email protected]), by close of business on Friday, November 4, 2016. Based on the input received, the ANSI ISO Council (AIC) will then be asked to approve an ANSI position and comments to be submitted to ISO before its January 15, 2017, deadline for voting on this proposal.
ANSI has published an explanatory information document outlining the process used to develop U.S. positions on issues and activities under consideration by ISO and IEC.