October 30, 2011 Beijing, China – The 2011 Beijing Forum on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) was held in Beijing October 30-31, 2011, which aimed to implement the “Beijing Declaration” adopted by the 2008 World Health Organization (WHO) Congress on Traditional Medicine, share China’s achievements in promoting public health through TCM, and advance international dissemination and exchange of TCM. The forum was sponsored by the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Health & Medical Development Foundation, and organized by Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, Beijing Municipal Health Bureau and Beijing Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The event was attended by local government and industry as well as delegates from Belgium, France, New Zealand, Canada, Russia and a variety of other countries. The U.S.-China Health Products Association’s executive director Jeff Crowther was invited by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine to introduce U.S. regulations for TCM in

the U.S. as well as discuss opportunities for herbal suppliers. Crowther also touched on how cGMP and the new NDI guidance directly and indirectly affects Chinese suppliers. He also encouraged manufacturers to work toward building solid quality systems in order to strengthen the “Made in China” image. Many herbal suppliers are still not up to speed on international standards nor do they all have GMP certifications. However, China also has some of the best manufacturers in the industry going out of their way to have ISO, Halal, Kosher, Organic and multiple international GMP certifications to appease their foreign customers and spending small fortunes on state of the art manufacturing equipment.

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