CHIEF Medical Officer Dr Anton Cumberbatch says the Ministry of Health will now be closely monitoring the sale and distribution of herbal medicines.

"In our country at the moment, under the Food and Drug Law, many herbal products, because of their claims, are considered to be drugs," Cumberbatch said in a press conference at the Ministry of Health's head office at Park Street, Port of Spain, yesterday.

However, because of concerns raised about the quality of some herbal medicines, the Health Ministry will now be enforcing the law to ensure all claims made by herbal products can be achieved.

"The number one priority is public safety and to ensure that the claims that are being made by the products can stand the evidence of scrutiny," Cumberbatch said.

"When one looks at the definition of a drug, it's quite wide and it does in fact take in the majority of herbal preparations," Bhabie Roopchand, manager of the legal service unit at the ministry, said.

A drug, according to local law, includes "any substance or mixture of substances manufactured, sold or represented for use in the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of a disease, disorder of normal physical state or the symptoms thereof in man or animal or the restoring corrective or modifying organic function in man or animal", Roopchand stated.

Since herbal products are drugs, they need to be properly scrutinised and registered, Cumberbatch said.

So far, 335 have been registered locally.

While the press conference was being held on the third floor of the ministry yesterday, herbalist Philip Franco was staging a one-man protest at the entrance to the building.

Franco, the owner of Natural Balance, was protesting one of his shipments being denied entry by the Ministry of Health's Food and Drug Division.

After the press conference, Cumberbatch spoke with Franco. However, Franco, who has been in business for over a decade, told the Express the blocked shipment included supplements and not medicine. He intends to continue his protest today.