Features and development trends in international standardization of Chinese materia medica in ISO/TC 249.

Chinese materia medica (CMM) is indispensable component of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) therapy. With the widespread of TCM around the world, the quality control and safe use of CMM become a major concern. This paper introduces the role of ISO standards for industrial development and current development status of CMM standards in ISO/TC 249. Through the comparison of similarities and differences between CMM standards in ISO/TC 249 and pharmacopoeias of main stakeholders, this paper suggests strengthening standard formulation in the following areas to provide more appropriate documents to facilitate the international trade and promote the industrial development of CMM: (1) Develop standards to fill the blanks among the whole industry chain of CMM; (2) Develop standards for new forms of CMM and services; (3) Develop specification and grade standards for CMM with large quantity and high value.