Plantes médicinales et aromatiques

medicinal_aromatic_plants

People around the world collect or use medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) for treating and preventing illnesses. The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged the importance of traditional medicines, and particularly in many developing countries, where around 70-95% of the population rely on these medicines for primary care.

Medicinal plants form the basis for these health care systems. Most active mechanisms in modern pharmaceutical drugs were either directly or indirectly derived from natural products, which include plants and other life forms. This still holds despite the advent of synthetic and combinatorial chemistry. Moreover, MAPs and their specimens are used in cosmetic, food and luxury products.

Résolutions

Décisions

Conservation et commerce des espèces de plantes médicinales et aromatiques inscrites à la CITES

Approximately 60,000 MAP species are harvested globally, of which around 1,280 are estimated to be listed in CITES Appendices. MAP cultivation and harvest practices secure valuable income for many rural households; can play a vital role in livelihood diversification for marginalized populations living in remote areas; and is an important factor in the source countries' local economies. 

For example, the global revenue from traditional Chinese medicine was USD 83 billion in 2012. Annual expenditures in the traditional medicine sector in the Republic of Korea were USD 7.4 billion in 2009, and private spending for natural products in the United States of America was USD 14.8 billion in 2008. The European market for herbal supplements and herbal medicines is estimated to be worth USD 7.4 billion per year. From 2001 to 2014, annual average growth rates of 2.4% in volume and 9.2% in export value of medicinal plant material were observed, amounting to a threefold increase in global trade in medicinal and aromatic plants since 1999. 

The CITES trade database registers 54 million kg of exports of medicinal plant products between 2006 and 2015, mainly derived from 43 species. Forty-seven percent of these exports were sourced from the wild. 

Many medicinal and aromatic plant species are threatened with extinction in the wild through overharvesting, habitat loss, climate change, and unregulated or illegal international trade. The importance of trade in CITES-listed MAPs is further illustrated by their share in reported seizures of CITES-listed specimens. Between January and December 2017, 27% of CITES-related seizures reported by the Member States of the European Union (EU) involved medicinal products. Sustainable harvest and legal, well-regulated trade are thus key to ensure the sustainable use of medicinal plants.

Please find sources for this background information in CoP18 Doc. 55 and PC25 Doc. 30.

Information materials for raising awareness of CITES regulations for the medicinal and aromatic plant industry stakeholders and consumers [Decision 19.261]

The following information lists materials were submitted in response to Notification 2023/045. All hyperlinks are functional as of 20 June, 2023. Each document is listed with a descriptive title, and with information on the submitting entity and available languages. The CITES Secretariat does not verify the content or continued functionality of any external documents or websites. The geographical designations employed in this document do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the CITES Secretariat (or the United Nations Environment Program) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The responsibility for the contents of each document rests exclusively with its author.

Title/description

Submitted by

Languages

National regulation of trade and examples of CITES-listed animal and plant ingredients in traditional medicine

CA

Chinese, English, French, Pin Yin

Wild American Ginseng: information for dealers and Exporters

USA

English

Strengthening Sustainable International Trade in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants—Updates from the 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES and potential future directions (HerbalEGram Volume 17, Issue 5 (2020))

USA, TRAFFIC

English

Don’t forget to celebrate plants on World Wildlife Day

USA

English

Outreach letter to U.S. dietary supplement / personal care products communities

USA

English

Primer on importing and exporting of CITES-listed species

AHPA

English

Extinction threats and CITES protection: Rhodiola as a case study (The Herbal Eye Vol. 1, Issue 3, (2023))

UK

English

Medicinal Plant Names Service (CoP10 Inf. 32)

UK

English

Ayurvedic Professionals Association (APA) self-regulation & pharmacopoeia document

UK

English

Herbal Alliance Quality & Sustainability Guidelines

UK

English

Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine (RCHM) restricted substances list (2019)

UK

English

CITES implementation in the Palawan province (Palawan Council for Sustainable Development administrative order no. 12)

PH

English

Guía informativa para la elaboración de estudios técnicos de aprovechamiento sustentable de candelilla (Euphorbia antisiphylitica) en el marco de las disposiciones de la CITES

MX

Spanish

Manual general de procedimientos para la formulación de Dictámenes de extracción no Perjudicial para candelilla (Euphorbia antisiphylitica)

MX

Spanish

Hierbas aromáticas y medicinales en México: Tradición e Innovación (Revista Bio Ciencias 2(3) (2013))

MX

Spanish

El mercado de plantas medicinales en México, situación actual y perspectivas de desarrollo

MX

Spanish

Plantas medicinales que se comercializan en el mercado 8 de julio y uno tradicional, ambos localizados en el Centro de Actopan, Hidalgo, México (Polibotánica no. 50 (2020))

MX

Spanish

Harvest and trade of Jatamansi in Nepal

TRAFFIC

English

Wild harvest and “forest farming” of American ginseng in the United States

TRAFFIC

English

Harvest and trade of Candelilla in Mexico

TRAFFIC

English

Guaiacwood harvesting for essential oils in the Paraguayan Gran Chaco

TRAFFIC

English

Wild check – Assessing risks and opportunities of trade in wild plant ingredients (Schindler et al., Rome, FAO (2022))

TRAFFIC

English

WildCheck: an online platform on risks and opportunities in wild ingredient supply chains, and to foster effective sectoral alliances among businesses, investors, policymakers and consumers

TRAFFIC

English

Project description: Maximising the conservation and livelihood benefits from trade in CITES Appendix-II listed Nardostachys jatamansi in Nepal

TRAFFIC

English

CITES and voluntary certification for wild medicinal and aromatic plants (Timoshyna et al., TRAFFIC Bulletin 31(2), (2019))

TRAFFIC

English

Voluntary certification standards and the implementation of CITES for trade in medicinal and aromatic plant species (CoP18 Inf. 36)

TRAFFIC

English

The FairWild Standard: ecological and fair trade guidelines on wild-sourced products

TRAFFIC

English

Wild at home: exploring the global harvest, trade and use of wild plant ingredients (Jenkins et al., TRAFFIC (2018))

TRAFFIC

English

Applicability of traceability systems for CITES-Listed medicinal and ornamental plants (Appendices II and III) (Lehr & Jaramillo, UNCTAD, (2017))

TRAFFIC

English

Understanding corruption risks in the global trade in wild plants (Timoshyna, A., & Drinkwater, TNRC Topic Brief (2021))

TRAFFIC

English

Everyday foods and cosmetics that use wild plants may be harming the environment (National Geographic article (2022))

TRAFFIC

English