Future visions for traditional and herbal medicinal products--a global practice for evaluation and regulation?

Medicinal plants and traditional medicines have been used worldwide since ancient times. Currently, there is neither a globally consented terminology nor a harmonized regulatory approach. Nevertheless, it is common sense that quality, efficacy and safety should be assessed following scientific standards, addressing particulars and considering an adequate level of risk management. A global market for traditional medicines is emerging, if not already existing. Therefore, a constructive communication about regulatory systems for herbal and traditional medicinal products should be enforced. Best practice standards might be developed according to current scientific knowledge in order to improve mutual acceptance of data, sets of monographs and assessments. Overall, a convergence of the diverse regulatory systems might save resources and lead to an adequate availability of herbal and traditional medicinal products to the patients without neglecting public health.