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Shri Kamal Nath, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, has taken up the issue of the difficulties being faced by exporters of ayurveda products in the European Union (EU) with Mr. Peter Mandelson, Commissioner for Trade, European Commission and urged him to use his good offices to resolve the problem before the EU-India Summit here next month.
Expressing serious concern over the difficulties faced by ayurveda practitioners and ayurveda products in the EU, Shri Kamal Nath in a letter to Mr. Mandelson has pointed out that: “The proposed EU Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products (THMPD) which comes into effect from October 2005 would cover the ayurveda system of medicine as a part of herbal medicines. The THMPD requires the use of any medication, including ayurvedic medicines, for a full 15 years in Europe before it can be accepted under THMPD. This, you would appreciate, becomes a barrier to trade especially because this straightaway removes from consideration a set of medicines which have been in use in India for centuries but which may not have found a place in Europe 15 years ago”.
In practical terms, Shri Kamal Nath has stressed that the proposed Directive would mean that most ayurveda products would never find a place in the EU due to the condition of a minimum use of 15 years within the EU. “This condition is neither scientific nor based on any risk analysis, and has the effect of an insurmountable non-tariff barrier to trade”, he adds.
Referring to the proposal made by Mr. Mandelson to have a Working Group with experts on Ayurveda which would look into the problem, Shri Kamal Nath has suggested that as this was likely to take sometime, implementation of the EC Directive which is to come into effect from 1st October, 2005 be deferred till this matter is resolved through the Working Group Mechanism.
SB/MRS
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