Press release ISO TC249 2019
The 10th Plenary Meeting of ISO TC249 for Traditional Chinese Medicine Bangkok, Thailand
US Delegate to Participate International Dialog of Quality and Safety Standards
Bangkok, Thailand. From June 2-6, 2019, the 10th Plenary of International Organization for Standardization/Traditional Chinese Medicine Technical Committee (ISO/TC 249) was held in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference was organized by Thailand Ministry of Health and Alternative Medicine and co-organized by Thailand Association of Industry Standards. Twelve member countries from China, Japan, Korea, the United States, Canada, Germany, Spain, Norway, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and other associated organizations with total of 228 attendees participated in the meeting. The US delegate of Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO/TC249 is comprised of experts representing professional practitioners, herbal medicine industry, information technology and administrative reps from NSF, the sponsoring organization of US TAG.
The meeting received a total of 27 new proposals from China, South Korea, Germany, and Saudi Arabia, covering standards in the areas of Chinese herbs, herbal preparations, acupuncture devices and TCM related information 
technologies. A total of 10 proposals with a high degree of consensus among experts have advanced into voting stages. The US delegate has participated in all intensive discussions of proposed international standards in serval working groups. “With nearly 40,000 licensed acupuncture and Chinese medicine practitioners and a growing industry of Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture devices in the United States”, said Dr. Eric Buckley, DOM., L.Ac., Chair of US TAG to TC249, “it is increasingly important for the US delegate to be involved in the international dialog on quality and safety standards within the ISO community”.
Starting in 2009, ISO/TC 249 has been developing improved standard proposals in quality and quantity over the last 10 years. Today, 45 international standards for Chinese medicine have been officially approved, and another 42 have been in different stages of evaluation, achieving a significant set of international standards for Chinese medicine. “We expect ISO/TC 249 to further focus on the improvement of standard quality in the next 10-years of development”, stated Prof. Shen Yuandong, the newly elected president of ISO/TC 249, “and encourage more member states to participate in the formulation of international standards, enhance the quality and safety control of Chinese medicine products, promote other traditional medicine around the world, boost international trade and improve human health”.
The US delegate members:
Eric Buckley, Chair of ISO/TC249 US TAG, Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, Santa Fe, NM
Iman Majd, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA
Luann Whittenburg, Nurse Practitioner, Minneapolis, MN
Jipu “Dan” Wen, TCMzone, LLC. Tempe, AZ
Rachel Brooker, ISO/TC249 US TAG Administrator, NSF International, Ann Arbor, MI
Ted Klein, Klein Consulting Inc. New York, NY