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).