Recommendations of the International Workshop
on Commercial Produciton of Indigenous Plants as Phytomedicines and Costmetics Held on June 24-25, 1996 at Sheraton Hotel and Towers , Lagos

The International workshop on Commercial Production of Indigenous Plants as Phytomedicines and Cosmetics organized by Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme (BDCP) was held at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria from June 24-25, 1996. The workshop was declared open by the Honorable Minister of Science and Technology, Major-General Sam Momah. The workshop was attended by delegates from Kenya, Zaire, USA, Cameroon, Guinea and the host country, Nigeria. The keynote address was given by Professor M. lwu, the Executive Director of BDCP. At the end of the 2-day workshop, the following recommendations were made:

1. Regulation:

1.1 A body of interested experts representing various interests should be established and charged with the responsibility of preparing the regulations and granting the authorization for the production and sale of phytomedicines in developing countries.

1.2 Laws and Regulations on phytomedicines should be relevant to the needs of each country.

1.3 Adequate logistics for provisional registration of commonly used and generally accepted as safe and effective herbal medicines should be established for existing phytomedicines produced and marketed by traditional healers. 1.4 There should be a published list of approved monographs or formulary on all phytomedicines. 1.5 It will be the responsibility of the expert committee (see 1. I above) to collect and access the necessary documentation required for the approval or otherwise of phytomedicines.

2. Training:

2-1 There should be training in Ethnobiology and field Taxonomy and Ethnobotanical inventory and economic value assessment of plants in all the ecological zones of developing countries. 2.2 Traditional Healers should be given basic training in production, standardization, storage and labelling.

2.3 Introduction of herbal medicine courses in Medical, Pharmacy and Nursing students curricula.

2.4 Medical Practitioners, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals should be given proper orientation on the rational use of herbal medicines.

3. Standardization

3.1 Every medicinal plant in the formulary or monograph must be standardized from which data the expert committee should set basic minimum requirements for commonly used single and multicomponent phytomedicine for each country.

4. Conservation and Cultivation

4.1 There should be National Policy for cultivation, conservation and propagation of medicinal plants for sustainable use in each ecological zone.

5. Recognition of Interllectual Property:

The policy of intellectual property right for local communities and traditional healers should be established in each country.

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