Commission E is an independent scientific expert commission for herbal medicinal products. This commission is based at the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM). Commission E was interdisciplinary in composition and consisted of physicians, pharmacists, pharmacologists, toxicologists, biostatisticians and also patient representatives. The members were proposed every three years by associations of the field and appointed by the Federal Ministry of Health. A pioneering task of Commission E was the preparation of monographs on the efficacy and safety of herbal medicinal drugs (see below Commission E Monographs).