The Southern African Botanical Products Association (SABPA) was founded in 2023 as an umbrella organization for the southern African botanical ingredient and product industry. The organization intends to improve quality, consolidate supply chains, overcome barriers to market access, create awareness of and compliance with the stipulations of the Nagoya Protocol pertaining to protection of indigenous knowledge and Access-Benefit-Sharing (ABS), and international acceptance of southern African botanical products in general.

In March 2024, SABPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA) that focuses on increasing market opportunity for underutilized resources from the southern African region as well as the acknowledgment and protection of indigenous knowledge associated with these resources. SABPA has since been promoting its cause in a variety of international meetings, trade shows, panels, webinars, and other events.

Symposium on Commercialization

In conjunction with the joint meeting of the 23rd International Congress of the International Society for Ethnopharmacology (ISE) & the 2nd International Congress of the African Phytomedicine Scientific Society (APSS) from Oct. 24-26, 2024, SABPA organized a 1-day symposium on commercialization, market access, and sustainable supply chain for botanicals.

Attendees included close to 80 stakeholders from government, academia, and industry. Aiming to address a dire need for closing knowledge gaps pertaining to the commercialization lifecycle of botanical ingredients and products, the sold-out symposium was well received, and the feedback provided by participants identified interest in follow-up events in different formats (e.g., live workshops and webinars that will explore individual topics at a greater level of detail and build a library of educational resources available to SABPA membership).

Topics covered included:

• Aspects of ingredient testing at both origin and target markets;
• The importance of pharmacopeial quality standards;
• Safety standards and post-market surveillance for botanical products;
• Tools for conservation and ensuring equity in biodiversity-based economies;
• Good agricultural and collection practices in ethical supply chains;
• Regulatory barriers in the countries of origin;
• Regulations impacting market access for botanical products in the E.U. and the U.S.; and
• Comparison of characteristics and dynamics of the E.U. and U.S. marketplaces.

The symposium was supported by UNPA, the Schwabe Group, Doehler, Eurofins, Oryx Desert Salt, Alkemist Labs, and the South African government’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.

The full schedule and speaker bios can be found on the event’s website https://sabpa.africa/sabpa-symposium/.

About the Authors: Joerg Gruenwald, PhD, is co-founder of analyze & realize GmbH, a specialized business consulting company and CRO in the fields of nutraceuticals, dietary supplements, herbals and functional food, and co-author of the PDR for Herbal Medicines. He can be reached at analyze & realize GmbH, Waldseeweg 6, 13467 Berlin, Germany; +49-30-40008100, Fax: +49-30-40008500; e-mail: jgruenwald@a-r.com, www.analyze-realize.com

Thomas Brendler, PhD, is the founder and principal of Plantaphile, an international consultancy with focus on herbal product research, development, regulations and supply, and co-author of the PDR for Herbal Medicines. He can be reached at txb@plantaphile.eu.