Guidelines Development on Claims and Claims Substantiation for Herbal Products in Thailand

Abstract

The objective of this research was to develop the guidelines on claims and claims
substantiation for herbal products which was suitable for the context of Thailand. Documentary research was used by reviewing and comparing the guidelines on claims and claims substantiation for herbal products in the selected countries. i.e., ASEAN, Australia, Singapore,Malaysia and Thailand. The results showed that “ASEAN Guidelines on Claims and Claims Substantiation for Traditional Medicines and Health Supplements”, the standard guidelinesfor ASEAN countries, was more comprehensive and flexible than the guidelines of otherASEAN countries including Thailand. However, the ASEAN guidelines did not cover all herbal products. The Australia guidelines was the most comprehensive when compared to the other countries but did not have the specific criteria of traditional medicines and herbal supplements. Therefore the ASEAN guidelines and some parts of the Australia guidelines were used as the references to develop the guidelines on claims and claims substantiation for herbal products in Thailand. The drafted version of the guidelines on claims and claims substantiation for herbal products in Thailand was prepared, consisting of the followings : (1) Introduction (2) Objective (3) Types of herbal products (4) Key principles of claims and claims substantiation for herbal products (5) Guidance of claims and claims substantiation for herbal medicinal products (6) Guidance of claims and claims substantiation for herbal health supplement products (7) Notes and (8) References.