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: 4. Personnel and education

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

4. Personnel and education

4.1 All primary processing procedures should fully conform with regional and/or national guidelines on food hygiene and personnel entrusted with handling of medicinal plants/herbal drugs should be required to have a high degree of personal hygiene (including personnel working in the field) and have received adequate training regarding their hygiene responsibilities.

4.2 The welfare of all staff involved in growing and processing should be ensured.

4.3 Personnel must be protected from contact with toxic or potentially allergenic medicinal plants/herbal drugs by means of adequate protective clothes.

4.4 Persons suffering from known infectious diseases transmittable via food, including diarrhoea, or being transmitters of such diseases, must be suspended from areas where they are in contact with medicinal plants/herbal drugs, according to regional and/or national regulations.

4.5 Persons with open wounds, inflammations and skin-infections should be suspended from areas where the plant processing takes place or should have to wear appropriate protective clothing/gloves until their complete recuperation.

4.6 Personnel should receive adequate botanical training before performing tasks that require this knowledge.

4.7 Collectors must have sufficient knowledge of the plant they have to collect. This includes identification, characteristics and habitat requirements such as shade, humidity, soil etc. The collectors must be able to differentiate between the collected species and botanically related and/or morphologically similar species to avoid any risk to public health. Collectors should have sufficient knowledge about the best time to harvest and harvesting technique and the importance of primary processing to guarantee the best possible quality.

4.8 If collectors are without sufficient knowledge, a local supervisor should guarantee the education, supervision and documentation.

4.9 It is advisable to educate all personnel dealing with the medicinal plant/herbal drug and all those engaged in its cultivation regarding cultivation techniques including the appropriate use of herbicides and pesticides.

4.10 Collectors of medicinal plants/herbal drugs should be instructed on all issues relevant to the protection of the environment and conservation of plant species. This will include information on regulations related to protected species.