The Traditional Medicine Practice Council (TMPC) under the auspices of the Ministry of Health has advised herbal medicine practitioners to register and acquire the Council's operational license to justify the authenticity and credibility of their products

Mr Alexander Boateng Yomaah, the Bono and Ahafo Regional Regulatory Assistant of the TMPC said it was an offence to produce and sell traditional medicine without the Council's certification.

Speaking at a day's workshop in Sunyani, Mr Yomaah said the TMPC would not allow producers of herbal medicine without licenses to operate, warning that defaulters would be liable to pay a fine of four times the actual penalty units.

The workshop was organised by the Bono Regional chapter of the National Association of Traditional Healers and attended by 180 herbal medicine producers drawn from the six Districts and six Municipalities in the region.

Mr Yomaah said the registration was necessary to clamp down on the fake and unlicensed herbal medicine producers and also to bring sanity into the industry.

He therefore commended the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) for its intensified regulatory, monitoring and supervision exercises.

In a presentation, Mr. Daniel Nti, a Senior Regulatory Officer at the Sunyani Regional (Bono, Bono East and Ahafo) office of the FDA advised the participants to adhere to best practices and keep their surroundings clean to avoid contamination of their products.