International business standards guide the transformation and upgrading of plant industry

Plant extract industry is a sunrise industry with rapid development and fierce market competition Restricted by the lack of industry standards, there are some problems in the plant extract industry, such as relatively disordered production, low industrial concentration and indistinguishable advantages and disadvantages On June 21, China Chamber of Commerce for the import and export of medical and health care products (hereinafter referred to as the chamber of Commerce for medical insurance) released a new version of the international business standards for plant extracts, which is the third batch of standards issued by the chamber of Commerce for medical insurance since the drafting of the standards began in 2001 There are 12 standards in the third batch, including white willow skin extract, Polygonum cuspidatum resveratrol, Ganoderma lucidum extract (water extract), green coffee bean extract, stevia extract, Siraitia grosvenorii extract (Siraitia grosvenorii v25%), Siraitia grosvenorii extract (Siraitia grosvenorii V50%), seaweed extract (Fuchsia), areca polysaccharide polyphenol, honeysuckle extract (5% chlorogenic acid), honeysuckle extract (25% chlorogenic acid), chlorogenic acid Meng Dongping, vice president of the chamber of Commerce for medical insurance, said that the publication of the international business standard for plant extracts is conducive to regulating the export of plant extracts in China and improving international competitiveness In recent years, the plant extract industry has developed rapidly, accounting for half of the export of Chinese traditional medicine products However, since 2016, the growth rate of extract export has slowed down and the industry has entered a period of adjustment Statistics show that in 2016, the export amount of traditional Chinese medicine in China was US $3.426 billion, down 9.13% year on year Among them, the export volume of plant extracts was USD 1.93 billion, down 10.93% year on year, accounting for 56% of the export volume of traditional Chinese medicine From January to April 2017, the export volume of plant extracts was US $650 million, down 12.38% year on year, and the downward trend is still continuing From the perspective of export products, among the top ten export varieties, food use products account for more and more From the perspective of export market, the export to Europe increased significantly, reaching 3.44% in 2016, while the export to North America and Asia declined, with an increase of - 1.28% and - 18.78% respectively At present, the United States is the largest export market of plant extracts in China, followed by Japan and South Korea Industry insiders remind that the plant extract industry is a fast-growing sunrise industry with fierce market competition Restricted by the lack of industry standards, there are some problems in the plant extract industry, such as relatively disordered production, low industrial concentration and indistinguishable advantages and disadvantages Most enterprises, including trade and production enterprises, can only provide several or more primary products China's plant extract industry is facing transformation and upgrading Yu Zhibin, director of the traditional Chinese Medicine Department of the chamber of Commerce for medical insurance, said that the lack of standards has become an important factor hindering the development of the industry In foreign trade, because there are no standards to refer to, enterprises can only rely on customer contracts in many cases, and lack of voice in foreign negotiations In addition, there are also difficulties for enterprises to apply for food production license in China Many products are unable to apply for production license due to lack of national standards The industry urgently needs to meet the standard system of industrial development In recent years, the chamber of Commerce of medical insurance has actively promoted the establishment of international business standards for plant extracts, promoted the industry's gradual standardization and promoted the improvement of product quality by successively launching three batches of standards According to the introduction of the relevant personnel of the chamber of Commerce of medical insurance, the 2017 edition of the international business standards for plant extracts summarizes all the previous standards for plant extracts, and has the following three highlights: first, it is professional, and the relevant provisions of the 2015 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia plant extracts and the United States Pharmacopoeia dietary supplements were referred to in the formulation process The second is integrity Through the convening of the standard making meeting, the principle of unified compilation was determined and the common standard general principles were formed Third, the strongest team of experts has carried out relevant cooperation with core research institutes such as CFDA and USP institutions For the introduction of the new standard, different enterprises also have different views Large standard enterprises welcome it, while some small enterprises feel more pressure Zhang Chengcheng, chairman of Chongqing Jiaowang Natural Products Co., Ltd., believes that there is still a large space for the development of plant extract industry The decline of export at this stage means that the industry is transforming and the extensive development is coming to an end Quality control will become the development trend of plant extract industry With the continuous improvement of standards, green and healthy plant extracts will become the mainstream of consumption in the future The publication of the international business standard for plant extracts has attracted wide attention from domestic and foreign counterparts According to Yu Zhibin, USP is considering including some business standards into the US standard system At the same time, the chamber of Commerce for medical insurance has also launched cooperation with the United States Pharmacopoeia organization to select the standards recognized by both sides, and jointly form a "Sino US standard set of plant ingredients", through bilateral negotiations, to achieve the common standard reference of Sino US plant product trade He said that for domestic enterprises, when they need to apply for food safety production license (i.e QS certification), in the absence of national standards, international business standards can be used as a strong reference to meet domestic trade needs In addition, the commercial standards are also the main reference for commodity inspection ports to monitor import and export if they need to test related products Next, the chamber of Commerce of medical insurance will cooperate with the Chinese Academy of inspection to jointly promote the healthy development of the plant extract industry It is understood that in order to help the development of China's plant extract industry, more plant extracts will be included in the standard and form a unique global plant extract standard system, at present, the chamber of Commerce for medical insurance has started the project approval of the fourth batch of plant extract standards, and the new batch of standards will project 25 varieties based on the principle of wide in and strict out, taking into account the industry situation and scientific standards Yu said the chamber expects more enterprises to participate in the development of international business standards for plant extracts.