According to www.manilatimes.net, the Organic & Natural Health Association and India’s Shellac & Forest Products Export Promotion Council (SHEFEXIL) have entered into a strategic partnership on July 14, 2026 to strengthen scientific collaboration, trusted supply chains, and responsible trade for natural health products, nutraceuticals, botanicals, and functional ingredients between the United States and India.
First U.S. Trade Association Partnership for SHEFEXIL
This agreement marks SHEFEXIL’s first strategic partnership with a U.S. natural health trade association. SHEFEXIL operates under India’s Ministry of Commerce & Industry and serves as an export promotion council focused on shellac, forest-based products, and related value-added sectors—including nutraceuticals. The partnership expands SHEFEXIL’s broader international strategy aimed at building confidence in India’s nutraceutical sector through certification alignment, industry engagement, scientific exchange, and market development initiatives across multiple geographies.
The collaboration also represents the first major international initiative launched under the leadership of Mark Thurston, president of AIDP and recently elected president of the Organic & Natural Health Association. According to Debjani Roy, Ph.D., executive director of SHEFEXIL, “Our partnership with the Organic & Natural Health Association creates a stronger bridge between India and the United States for science, innovation, and responsible commerce.” She added that the alliance is building “a trusted global ecosystem through scientific collaboration, regulatory dialogue, and industry engagement that benefits both consumers and the natural health sector.”
Leadership and Governance Structure
Anand Swaroop, founder and president of Cepham and a member of the Organic & Natural Health Association, will serve as lead facilitator for the partnership through the association’s working group. Swaroop emphasized that this relationship fills a longstanding gap: “India has long sought deeper engagement with the U.S. natural products industry, but until now there has not been a formal relationship between SHEFEXIL and a U.S. trade association representing manufacturers, brands, researchers, and other industry stakeholders.”
The Organic & Natural Health Association’s Board of Directors has recently expanded to include Gina Benninger, director of business development and marketing at Nutriience. She joins board members Charles G. Brown, Heather Granato, Todd A. Harrison, Chris Holland, Sandra Lee, Alan Lewis, Doug Lynch, Ray Martinez, Todd Norton, and Brian Terry. This growth reflects the association’s intensified focus on international engagement.
Joint Activities and Timeline
Planned joint activities include executive exchanges, regulatory roundtables, scientific forums, trade missions, buyer-seller introductions, educational programming, manufacturing and research facility visits, academic exchanges, and working groups addressing emerging issues affecting the global natural health industry. The organizations will formally celebrate the partnership during the Bharat Nutraverse Expo, scheduled for September 7–9, 2026, in New Delhi.
Their first joint U.S. conference is set for January 20, 2027, at Anresco NJ Labs (East Coast) in Middlesex, New Jersey. The event will bring together U.S.-based manufacturers, regulators, and researchers with Indian exporters and scientific institutions to align on quality standards, regulatory pathways, and sustainable sourcing protocols. As Karen Howard, CEO and executive director of Organic & Natural Health, stated: “Today’s natural health challenges and opportunities extend well beyond national borders. By bringing together leaders from the United States and India, we are creating a framework for stronger scientific collaboration, more resilient supply chains, and greater consumer confidence for years to come.”
Source: manilatimes.net
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
