Nuherbs makes statement on Rhodiola CITES listing

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The president of Nuherbs (San Leandro, CA), Wilson Lau, has released a statement about the listing of all Rhodiola species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) appendix II. The listing becomes effective on February 23, 2023.

Lau explains that there are 58 species of Rhodiola, most of which are wildcrafted and long growing times, making a listing necessary to prevent them from being harvested into extinction. “According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the import of Rhodiola extracts is the equivalent of 90,000-300,000 kgs of herbal material annually to just the US alone,” states Lau. “Brands that use Rhodiola in their products should immediately start working out how they and/or their ingredient supplier will comply with CITES. Its listing date of February 23 will complicate things.Rhodiola is typically harvested in the fall, but the February listing date means that all the previously harvested Rhodiola already in the marketplace will have to transition to CITES.”

This raises a number of questions for manufacturers such as how to prove that material was sustainably harvested or how to certify that current material was harvested pre-CITES. Lau offers the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA; Silver Spring, MD) as an important resource. The trade association offers a detailed prime on CITES and recently held a webinar on the listing of Rhodiola in CITES.