Resources

AHPA develops publications and educational materials to help members create and market high-quality herbal products that conform to all regulatory requirements. AHPA provides these resources to members either complimentary or through special member pricing. 

AHPA Guidance Documents
AHPA produces these guidance documents on specific topics to help the industry comply with applicable laws and regulations and institute best practices that help ensure quality and transparency.

AHPA cGMP SOP Templates
The Dietary Supplement current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) rule (21 CFR part 111) requires supplement manufacturers to establish and follow federally mandated current good manufacturing practices.

Botanical Safety Handbook
This publication is an essential tool for anyone who manufactures, recommends, or uses herbal products. It provides safety information on over 500 species of herbs, derived from data compiled from clinical trials, pharmacological and toxicological studies, medical case reports, and historical texts.

Herbs of Commerce
AHPA's Herbs of Commerce is the standard for all common and scientific plant names used for products containing herbs. The second edition lists Latin binomials, Standardized Common Names, Ayurvedic, Chinese (pinyin), and other common names for 2,048 species, including 25 fungi and 23 seaweeds. This publication is a necessity for anyone who writes about plants or manufactures herbal products.

AHPA NDI Database
This database provides access to and understanding of notifications submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for new dietary ingredients (NDIs) that are used in dietary supplements.

AHPA Guidance Policies
AHPA develops guidance policies to promote responsible commerce in herbal supplements by addressing a variety of labeling and manufacturing issues. These policies reflect the consensus of AHPA members and board of trustees.

Code of Ethics, Business Practices & Trade Requirements
This Code was adopted by the membership and reflects the ethics of the responsible companies and organizations within the herbal products trade. The Code can be revised by the adoption of trade recommendations.

AHPA Botanical ID Reference Compendium
The AHPA Botanical Identity References Compendium is maintained by AHPA and was developed by AHPA with the support of many individuals and organizations with a common interest in sharing knowledge and resources relevant to accurate identification of herbal materials.

Good Stewardship Brochures
AHPA works with a variety of organizations and state agencies to produce resources on how to harvest many herbs.These brochures includes the following: Oshá, which is also known as Colorado cough root, Porter's lovage, loveroot, bear root, mountain ginseng, nipo, and chuchupate, has a long history of use in the U.S. Southwest. Wild American ginseng is one of the most important of the nontimber forest products collected in the mountains of the Eastern U.S.

AHPA Tonnage Surveys
These reports present the findings of surveys conducted by the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) to quantify annual harvests of certain North American herbs in commerce.

Good Agriculture and Collection Practices
AHPA's Guidance on Good Agricultural and Collection Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices for Botanical Materials provides a template for small and large growers, harvesters, and processors to implement and document best practices.

Good Herbal Compounding and Dispensing Practices
One of AHPA's core functions is to encourage industry self-regulation and adoption of best practices that protect consumers, patients and access to herbs and herbal formulas. Broad industry adoption of principles in this white paper will also help preserve the current federal regulatory approach which effectively meets the needs of consumers and practitioners.