Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Jan 03, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Jan 03, 2006 |
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Standards & Benchmarks Industry & Economy - Alternative Medicines Ayurvedic exports to sport label on heavy metals from today P.T. Jyothi Datta
Mumbai , Jan 2 SHREE Dhootapapeshwar, a Mumbai-based company, was to send a consignment of massage oil, herbal tea, and single and poly-herbal tablets to Germany in the last week of December. But this consignment will now leave Indian shores only by the third week of January. The time overrun is but a small worry for Dhootapapeshwar's top brass, who are involved with getting their ayurvedic products tested and labelled before being exported. In fact, testing and labelling have been made mandatory by the Indian government on all ayurvedic products being exported from the country, starting January 1. Among other things, ayurvedic products will now have to sport labels on the presence of heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and mercury) and information on the therapeutic application of these products. The mandatory labelling norm for ayurvedic exports had been prompted by the adverse reports on ayurvedic products from markets such as Canada, the US, parts of Europe, and Singapore, said an industry representative. These markets had raised concerns over the presence of heavy metals in ayurvedic products and the toxicity that they could cause. But representatives of the Indian ayurvedic industry are swimming with the tide. It is a progressive step, according to Mr Ranjit Puranik, CEO of the Rs 35-crore Shree Dhootapapeshwar. "It prevents any product that does not have a fundamental level of quality assurance from being exported and casting an aspersion on the entire segment," he added. Ayurvedic product manufacturers will have to "review and reconfigure" their systems to adhere to the new good manufacturing practices (GMP) norms, according to him. However, he said, heavy metals per se are not a cause of worry. Heavy metals give a therapeutic benefit when used in an ayurvedic product. The processed metal or "bhasma" makes it safe for human consumption. In such cases, these products should be labelled so that there is no surprise to the end-consumer. Problems are caused when exporters pick up products from the market, where they know nothing of the companies that manufacture the product, and yet export it, he added. A report in the Journal of American Medical Association raised these concerns, listing 70 products. But only about eight of these products actually suffered from heavy metal contamination. In some other products, the heavy metals need to be present, Mr Puranik said. Mr Pulin Shroff of Charak Pharma said that companies will have to make an initial investment to meet the quality requirements. But this will only benefit in the long term, he added. Companies exporting the generic forms like powders, etc., may face an initial setback due to the disclosure on metals, compared to the processed formulations, according to him. Data on the size of ayurvedic exports from the country is hard to come by. But the big players in this segment include Zandu, Baidyanath, Himalaya, and Dabur.
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