ITC publishes a market report every quarter to promote and improve international market transparency and fill in the information gap in medicinal plants and botanicals extracts. The regional reviews cover the main producing regions: Africa, China (and other East Asian countries), India (and other Asian countries), North America and South America. Information on Oceanic countries is occasionally included as well. Each regional section includes:
- demand and supply trends,
- industry news from the major producers in each region,
- indicative prices of raw materials and herbal extracts, trade specifications commonly used in each region,
- relevant meetings and trade shows,
- a directory of global herb trade associations and special features (company profiles, regulations),
- links to Sustainability Standards and Guidance Documents Relevant to the Global Trade of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants and Extracts
Of the over 3,000 botanical raw material species in global commerce, the report covers the most important exported natural products (in terms of value and volume). Past editions of the report dating back to 2001 are available. Download here a sample report in pdf free of charge.
Measuring the size of the sector is a key challenge in itself. This is mainly due to the fact that there is no comprehensive and exhaustive listing of harmonized tariff codes for MAPs and their extracts. Many countries are struggling with the lack of specificity of their tariff schedules and are looking to add more specific 8-and 10- digit codes for their most important botanical imports and exports.
Even where national schedules of tariff codes are referenced by an enterprise, these lack the specificity to differentiate down to the botanical species level (using Latin binomials) and furthermore to the various processed forms of a species. In addition, natural botanical ingredients are not cohesively grouped within the current Harmonized System Tariff Codes. Medicinal and aromatic plants and other botanical ingredients occur throughout chapters 06, 07, 08, 09, 12, 13, 15, 18, 21, 33 and 40. A botanical ingredient may be classified by some exporters within chapter 07 (as a dried root or tuber), by others in chapter 09 (as a spice), and by others in chapter 12 (as a medicinal substance).
Associations that can provide further information relating to Medicinal plants and extracts: