International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH)
International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH), established in 2006, is a global network of regulatory authorities responsible for regulation of herbal medicines. Its mission is to protect and promote public health and safety through improved regulation for herbal medicines.
Membership is open to any national regulatory authority responsible for the regulation of herbal medicines and regional/sub-regional bodies responsible for the regulation of herbal medicine.
General Information on IRCH
Background
A World Health Organization (WHO) working group meeting on international regulatory cooperation for herbal medicines took place from 28 to 30 November 2005 in Ottawa, Canada, hosted by, and with the financial support of, the Natural Health Products Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch of Health Canada. 29 participants from 16 countries attended the meeting. Representatives of regional bodies and groups on herbal medicines were also invited to attend the meeting. After intensive discussion, the participants agreed by consensus to establish a network for International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines (IRCH). Subsequently, the IRCH was established by WHO in early 2006 by receiving the nomination of the information focal points from the invited countries.
The second WHO working group meeting on international regulatory cooperation for herbal medicines took place from 23 to 25 October 2006 in Beijing, China. Since the IRCH was recently established, this meeting was considered as the first annual meeting of IRCH. Delegations from 11 Members of IRCH attended the meeting together with observers from four national regulatory authorities.
The WHO International Regulatory Cooperation for Herbal Medicines network of members increased from 35 when WHO became its secretariat in 2017 to 47 in 2021.
Current members of IRCH (47) – as of February 2024
Member Countries (44):
AFRO (9):
1. Botswana
2. Comoros
3. Eritrea
4. Ghana
5. Namibia
6. South Africa
7. Uganda
8. United Republic of Tanzania
9. Zimbabwe
AMRO (8):
10. Argentina
11. Brazil
12. Canada
13. Chile
14. Cuba
15. Mexico
16. Peru
17. United States of America
EMRO (5):
18. Islamic Republic of Iran
19. Oman
20. Pakistan
21. Saudi Arabia
22. United Arab Emirates
EURO (10):
23. Armenia
24. Germany
25. Hungary
26. Italy
27. Netherlands
28. Poland
29. Portugal
30. Switzerland
31. Turkey
32. United Kingdom
SEARO (5):
33. India
34. Indonesia
35. Myanmar
36. Nepal
37. Thailand
WPRO (7):
38. Australia
39. Brunei Darussalam
40. China (including Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR)
41. Japan
42. Malaysia
43. Republic of Korea
44. Singapore
Member Regional/Sub-regional bodies (3):
45. ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
46. EMA (European Medicines Agency)
47. Latin American Parliament
IRCH annual meetings:
- 1st Annual meeting: Beijing, China, 23-25 October 2006 (hosted and financially supported by China;);
- 2nd Annual meeting: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 24-26 July 2007 (hosted and financially supported by Malaysia);
- 3rd Annual meeting: Montreal, Canada, 24-25 February 2009 (hosted and financially supported by Canada);
- 4th Annual meeting: Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), 8-10 June 2010 (hosted and financially supported by UAE);
- 5th Annual meeting: Guangzhou, China, 30 November-2 December 2011 (hosted and financially supported by China);
- 6th Annual meeting: Curitiba, Brazil, 10-12 December 2012 (hosted and financially supported by Brazil);
- 7th Annual meeting: Lisbon, Portugal; 2-4 December 2014 (hosted and financially supported by Portugal);
- 8th Annual meeting: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 1-3 December 2015 (hosted and financially supported by Saudi Arabia);
- 9th Annual meeting: New Delhi, India, 8-10 November 2016 (hosted and financially supported by the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India);
- 10th Annual Meeting: Bonn, Germany, 11-13 September 2017 (hosted and financially supported by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices of Germany);
- 11th Annual Meeting: Budapest, Hungary, 05-07 December 2019 (hosted and financially supported by the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition, Hungary);
- 12th Annual Meeting: Online Meeting: Zoom, 25-27 November 2020 (hosted by WHO-IRCH Secretariat);
- 13th Annual Meeting: Online Meeting: Zoom, 24-26 November 2021 (hosted by WHO-IRCH Secretariat); and
- 14th Annual Meeting: Online Meeting: Zoom, 23-25 November 2022 (hosted by WHO-IRCH Secretariat).
- 15th Annual Meeting: Istanbul, Turkey, 16-19 April 2024 (hosted and financially supported by Turkey).