Recognized standards sought for TCM in EU

Aiming to expand internationally, traditional Chinese medicine is teaming up with European authorities to ramp up quality control.

"The interest for TCM is growing in most European countries. We need at least 200 new herbal drugs to meet demand. The number at present is only about 80 in the monograph European Pharmacopoeia," said Gerhard Franz, a former TCM group official and herbal expert in Europe.

Franz said there are still many obstacles for Chinese products entering Europe, including lack of pharmacological analysis of herbal medicine and control of pesticides.