A As ss se es ss sm me en nt t o of f p pl la an nt ts s/ /h he er rb bs s a an nd d e ex xt tr ra ac ct ts s I In nt tr ro od du uc ct ti io on n 5 5 M Mo on no og gr ra ap ph hs s o of f t th he e f fo ol ll lo ow wi in ng g s sp pe ec ci ie es s: : FOREWORDIn September 2003 the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted the Regulation No. 1831/2003 on additives for use in animal nutrition. The purpose of this regulation is to establish a Community procedure for authorising the placing on the market and use of feed additives and to lay down rules for the supervision and labelling of feed additives and premixtures in order to provide the basis for the assurance of a high level of protection of human health, animal health and welfare, environment, and "users and consumers" interests in relation to feed additives, whilst ensuring the effective functioning of the internal market. Under the current regulation detailed guidelines for some family of products are completely missing, that it is the case of the plants/herbs, plant/herb extracts and their naturally or synthetically produced components. For this reason it is one of the priorities of the FEEDAP Panel to implement guidelines/guidance for these types of compounds.It has been observed that plant/herbs and their extracts are increasingly being used (and informally marketed) not only as sensory additives, but also for other purposes not covered by the legislation, notably better growth or feed conversion, improved meat quality, and for prophylactic purposes. There are strong indications that such use will further increase as replacement additives for the antibiotic growth promoters whose use will be prohibited by the end of 2005.Nowadays, a compiled list of these compounds or extracts does not exists although the European Federation of Animal Feed Additive Manufacturers (FEFANA) notes that some 280 plant extracts and a further 1700 chemically defined compounds have been used within Member States as sensory additives in animal feeds.The results of this study will be used by EFSA, in consultation with the European Commission, Member States and other stakeholders, to provide input for the development of guidance/guidelines documents for the authorisation of plants/herbs, plant/herb extracts and their naturally or synthetically produced components for use in animal nutrition. ASSESSMENT OF PLANTS/HERBS, PLANT/HERB EXTRACTS AND THEIR NATURALLY OR SYNTHETICALLY PRODUCED COMPONENTS AS "ADDITIVES" FOR USE INTRODUCTIONThe last two decades have seen a substantial increase in use of herbs/botanicals and their products not only as herbal medicinal products and for food supplements, but also in the field of animal nutrition. The use of herbal feed additives, which include essential oils and (exotic) herbal mixtures, is extensively promoted by the producers, but the scientific background underpinning their use often is limited. Consequently an adequate knowledge of quality control (content of active substance(s) stability), efficacy and safety is oft...