WHO Guidelines on Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) for Medicinal Plants: Annex 2. Points to Consider on Good Agricultural and Collection Practice for Starting Materials of Herbal Origin: 3. Quality assurance

WHO Guidelines on Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) for Medicinal Plants
(2003; 80 pages) [French] [Spanish]

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Foreword
1. General introduction
	1.1. Background
	1.2. Objectives
	1.3. Structure
	1.4. Glossary
		1.4.1. Terms relating to herbal medicines:
		1.4.2. Terms relating to medicinal plant cultivation and collection activities:
2. Good agricultural practices for medicinal plants
	2.1. Identification/authentication of cultivated medicinal plants
		2.1.1. Selection of medicinal plants
		2.1.2. Botanical identity
		2.1.3. Specimens
	2.2. Seeds and other propagation materials
	2.3. Cultivation
		2.3.1. Site selection
		2.3.2. Ecological environment and social impact
		2.3.3. Climate
		2.3.4. Soil
		2.3.5. Irrigation and drainage
		2.3.6. Plant maintenance and protection
	2.4. Harvest
	2.5. Personnel
3. Good collection practices for medicinal plants
	3.1. Permission to collect
	3.2. Technical planning
	3.3. Selection of medicinal plants for collection
	3.4. Collection
	3.5. Personnel
4. Common technical aspects of good agricultural practices for medicinal plants and good collection practices for medicinal plants
	4.1. Post-harvest processing
		4.1.1. Inspection and sorting
		4.1.2. Primary processing
		4.1.3. Drying
		4.1.4. Specific processing
		4.1.5. Processing facilities
	4.2. Bulk packaging and labelling
	4.3. Storage and transportation
	4.4. Equipment
		4.4.1. Materials
		4.4.2. Design, construction and installation
		4.4.3. Identification
	4.5. Quality assurance
	4.6. Documentation
	4.7. Personnel (growers, collectors, producers, handlers, processors)
		4.7.1. General
		4.7.2. Health, hygiene and sanitation
5. Other relevant issues
	5.1. Ethical and legal considerations
		5.1.1. Intellectual property rights and benefits-sharing
		5.1.2. Threatened and endangered species
	5.2. Research needs
Bibliography
Annex 1. Good Agricultural Practice for Traditional Chinese Medicinal Materials, People's Republic of China
Annex 2. Points to Consider on Good Agricultural and Collection Practice for Starting Materials of Herbal Origin
	1. Introduction
	2. General
	3. Quality assurance
	4. Personnel and education
	5. Building and facilities
	6. Equipment
	7. Documentation
	8. Seeds and propagation material
	9. Cultivation
	10. Collection
	11. Harvest
	12. Primary processing
	13. Packaging
	14. Storage and distribution
	Glossary
Annex 3. Good Agricultural and Collection Practices for Medicinal Plants (GACP), Japan
Annex 4. A model structure for monographs on good agricultural practices for specific medicinal plants
Annex 5. Sample record for cultivated medicinal plants
Annex 6. Participants in the WHO Consultation on Good Agricultural and Field Collection Practices for Medicinal Plants

3. Quality assurance

Agreements between producers and buyers of medicinal plants/herbal drugs with regard to quality such as content of active principle, macroscopical and olfactory properties, limit values for microbial contamination, chemical residues and heavy metals etc., must be based on recognised regional and/or national specifications and should be laid down in written form.