EU directive is a ‘trade barrier', says ayurveda industry

For an industry that has constantly had to explain the science and tradition behind its products, the European Union directive seeking to tighten the definition of herbal and traditional products is being labelled by Indian ayurvedic-product companies as no less than a “trade barrier”.

Several delegations have gone back and forth between India and the EU to discuss the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Product Directive of 2004, but there is still no resolution in sight, says Mr Ranjit Puranik, Chief Executive of Shree Dhootapapeshwar.

“We have told the Indian Government that the directive is too steep to follow and it is a trade barrier,” he says, adding that it was insensitive and inaccurate to view the traditional ayurvedic science through the pharmaceutical prism.

The definition is too narrow and only seven medicinal plants are featured in the EU list, allowing few combinations as products. Ayurveda consists in excess of 30,000 combinations, he said.

Ayurveda is not a one-herb wonder and is a 5,000-year-old science. Large companies including the Daburs, Himalayas, Charak, Zandu (under Emami), Maharishi and Dhootapapeshwar are some of the companies exporting to European markets.

Some external applications, massage oils and supplements may not come under the EU scanner, but that would be a piece-meal approach, he added.

Industry pegs total exports of ayurvedic and herbal products at an estimated Rs 1,200 crore, with exports to the EU at about Rs 400 crore.

Dr D.B.A. Narayana, an expert in traditional medicine and regulatory affairs told Business Line that the EU directive will hit exports from India. The directive seeks intensive documentation and takes a pharma approach to a traditional product that could combine several ingredients.

As a result even previously registered products and those sold as herbal remedies, phyto-therapies and supplements may fact the heat, he observed.

In the past, the industry has faced flack on account of metal traces in ayurvedic products, while homeopathy products have been attacked by a section of the UK medical fraternity as being no more than a placebo (product used as a medical intervention but with no medicinal properties). Representatives of the Ayurvedic Drug Manufacturers' Association (ADMA) are to have an internal meeting this week to discuss the issue, as the EU deadline advances and take it up with the Government in the following week, said the ADMA General-Secretary, Mr Chandrakanth Banushali.