Get Ayush Premium mark to export AYUSH products : Ministry

For those, who are looking towards exporting their AYUSH medicines, the Ministry of AYUSH has appealed to the AYUSH drug manufacturers to get "Good quality" in order to export their products.

Anil Kumar Ganeriwala, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Ayush informed about the need of GMP in Ayurveda, a certificate that is necessary for making AYUSH products. He also highlighted about an AYUSH Premium Mark, a voluntary government certificate that is helpful while exporting AYUSH products. He further highlighted, "Only eight firms have sought the Ayush Premium Mark so far. Ayurvedic drugs are badly regulated within India but for export purposes, it is very important to take Ayush Premium Mark for authentication."

"Gradually all the manufacturers who export their drugs will come forward to get the 'good quality' certification for lucrative business as it helps in export and to easily enter the international pharmaceutical market," he added.

Earlier, AYUSH ministry had introduced voluntary quality certification systems in accordance with World Health Organisation (WHO) Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) guidelines and Quality Council of India (QCI) scheme of Ayush Premium Mark due to emerging trade and export opportunities for Ayurvedic medicines.

But later to make exports more reliable and more efficient, the Ministry made the GMP, mandatory quality certificate scheme compulsory for all AYUSH manufacturers. Thus with the current scenario,"GMP" is mandatory while"Ayush Premium Mark" is still Voluntary.

Stressing more on the safety of AYUSH products, Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH, told Rajya Sabha, "Evidence of safety and effectiveness is required for obtaining license to manufacture Ayurvedic medicines and shelf-life or date of expiry of various dosage forms has been prescribed in Drugs & Cosmetics Rules, 1945. Augmentation of pharmacopoeial standards has also been taken up for improving the quality of Ayurvedic medicines", reports India today.

In this regard, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that clinical trials should be made mandatory for all the alternative medicines to ensure safety.