According to the assumption, the traceability system can rely on information technology and the Internet of Things technology, through the unique electronic label on the packaging bag of Chinese herbal medicine products, to conduct information query on the origin, processing and circulation of medicinal materials.
Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang disclosed at a regular press conference held recently that as of the end of June this year, the first batch of four pilot cities for Chinese herbal medicines, including Baoding, Bozhou, Yulin, and Chengdu, had more than 600 companies Established a traceability system. Using the Internet of Things technology to solve the problem of product traceability is also one of the focuses of the development of the Chinese herbal medicine sector in recent years.
More than 600 companies have established a traceability system, and Chinese medicinal materials use information to "trace the source"
Retrospective quality assurance
"Compared with the booming biopharmaceuticals, there is a bottleneck in the development of the Chinese medicine industry, and the medicinal materials resources need to be consolidated." Not long ago, a person in charge of a traditional Chinese medicine production company explained why the company newly added biopharmaceuticals.
In fact, a number of relevant departments have been promoting the standardization of medicinal planting bases, storage and circulation in recent years to ensure the quality of medicinal materials. The construction of the traceability system of Chinese herbal medicine circulation is one of them.
According to the researcher's assumption, this traceability system can rely on information technology and Internet of Things technology, through the unique electronic label on the packaging bag of traditional Chinese medicinal products, to inquire about the origin, processing and circulation of medicinal materials. The reporter saw on the “National Chinese Medicine Circulation and Traceability System” managed by the Market Order Department of the Ministry of Commerce that the online query system has been basically constructed, and 35 traceable source codes can be entered on the website to start the query.
Tianshili Holding Group Co., Ltd. Chairman Yan Xijun previously proposed that adding quality information to the traceable QR code of each link, through the dynamic transmission of quality information, can fundamentally restrict the occurrence of counterfeiting.
The reporter noticed that the “Protection and Development Plan of Chinese Medicinal Materials (2015~2020)” released in April this year also regards “establishing a full-process traceability system covering major varieties of Chinese herbal medicines” as an important task to build a quality assurance system. It is required to establish a traceability system for the whole process of Chinese medicinal materials from planting and breeding, processing, acquisition, storage, transportation, sales to use, to achieve source traceability, traceability, and accountability, and to promote production enterprises to use Chinese herbal medicine raw materials with clear sources.
Although the currently established traceability system is still dominated by Chinese herbal medicine decoction enterprises, the major provinces that produce medicinal materials also attach great importance to the construction of a circulation traceability system. Taking Gansu as an example, as the second batch of pilot provinces for the construction of the traceability system of Chinese herbal medicines in the country, in addition to supporting the production enterprises in the province to establish medicinal material planting bases, it also highlights the “limited traceability” and “selective traceability” in light of the provincial conditions. Cooperative management model.
The Shaanxi Provincial Chinese Medicine Association also announced that the "Chinese Medicine Quality Management Traceability System" jointly developed by the Institute of Software of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences was officially launched, introducing modern information technologies such as the Internet, big data and cloud computing, and setting quality management traceability standards to fill The lack of the quality of Chinese herbal medicines in the whole process of tracking and responsibility forensics investigation.
Song Minxian, a professor of pharmacy management at Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, pointed out that the cultivation and mining of Chinese medicinal materials have the characteristics of "loose farmers", which makes it difficult to establish a traceability mechanism from the source. If large-scale industrialized planting is realized in the future and the soil, climate and other changes are reasonably monitored, the traceability system will play a greater role. Li Xu, who has been following the development of traditional Chinese medicine for many years, also pointed out that the current scattered, chaotic, and small status quo of Chinese herbal medicine cultivation needs to be changed. It is recommended that special cultivation bases be established in all major herbal medicine provinces to implement standardized management.
Online platform has advantages
Compared with traditional Chinese medicine traceability through traditional channels, an e-commerce online platform that is naturally compatible with the Internet of Things is also booming. Use the network to set up the necessary facilities such as traceability identification codes, certified electronic vouchers, smart traceability scales, information reading and writing equipment, emergency management, data transmission, terminal query, etc., and then establish a traceable Internet of Things and e-commerce management system.
At present, most of the medicinal materials trading centers (platforms) emerging in various places have put forward the concept of "full traceability". The “Notice on Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of a Modern Logistics System for Chinese Medicinal Materials” issued by the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce has already proposed that warehouse management systems (WMS), bar codes, two-dimensional codes, and radio frequency identification technologies should be promoted and applied. The Chinese medicinal materials trading subject and the information of processing and packaging, storage and acceptance, storage and maintenance are all electronically managed, and seamlessly connected with the circulation traceability system.
Jia Haibin, deputy general manager of TCM.com, believes that traceability of TCM through an electronic trading platform that implements third-party settlement is a very realistic move, but requires the support of third-party testing agencies. It is reported that the Chinese herbal medicine world network has prepared the medicinal materials circulation standard for more than two years, and it is expected to be released in August this year. The online transaction will be traced back then, which will provide more guarantee for the quality of the medicinal materials.
The Ministry of Commerce stated that it will continue to actively perform the lead responsibilities in accordance with the requirements of the "State Council's Several Opinions on Promoting Fair Market Competition and Maintaining Normal Market Order", and work with relevant departments to strengthen overall planning and top-level design, promote the improvement of relevant planning standards, and accelerate national traceability System.
The next step is to give full play to the main role of the enterprise, promote and gradually expand the traceability system to cover varieties and regions, and constantly improve the traceability network. At the same time, we will vigorously promote the interconnection and sharing of traceability information across regions and departments, and strengthen the analysis and application of traceability big data.