The First Conference on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Southeast European Countries (I CMAPSEEC), and joint VI Meeting "Days of Medicinal Plants 2000" (VI MDMP) will be held in Aranđelovac, from May 29 till June 2, 2000. I CMAPSEEC will be organised as international scientific and professional meeting open for all those working in the field of medicinal and aromatic plants and related products.

The main topics of the I CMAPSEEC & VI MDMP will be: preservation and sustainable use of biological resources, mapping of the natural recourses of medicinal and aromatic plants, biotechnology, breeding and seed production, cultivation, etnobotany, etnomedicine, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology, industrial processing, quality control and standardization, and economic aspects of medicinal and aromatic plants of the Southeast European region.

On this way, we are inviting our colleagues dealing with the all different aspects of aromatic and medicinal plant investigation, production, processing, use and trade, to participate in it.

Main program of the first CMAPSEEC & VI MDMP will be conducted through keynotes introductory and plenary lectures, oral and poster presentations of submitted papers, working and promotional sessions and exhibitions. We are also initiating organisation of the Association of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Southeast European Countries (AMAPSEEC), as well as a number of additional programs. We are expecting your active participation and contribution, aiming to the comprehensive and high quality work out of the Conference topics.

Monday (May 29): arrival, accommodation and registration of participant's, opening ceremony, welcoming cocktail.

Tuesday (May 30): introductory and plenary lectures, poster session (set up), Initiative meeting for the foundation of the Association for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Southeast European Countries (AMAPSEEC) - the first working session.

Wednesday (May 31): introductory and plenary lectures, oral presentations, poster session (discussion around posters).

Thursday (June 1): professional excursion; promotion of companies, institutions, and related associations; promotion of new books and monographs.

Friday (June 2): introductory and plenary lectures, oral presentations, Initiative meeting for the foundation of the Association for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Southeast European Countries (AMAPSEEC) - the second working session, closing ceremony, farewell dinner.

Workshop: Characterisation of plant isolates and related products. This five days lasting course (May 29 - June 2) will be organised for limited number of participants (up to 25). Course includes lectures, laboratory works, evaluation of participants success's achievement, and appropriate diploma assignment. Along with written materials, organiser will provide all necessary laboratory equipment, including contemporary Hewlett-Packard's analytical systems (GC, GC-MS, HPLC, UV-VIS). In the frame of the Workshop, the subject of characterisation will be also samples and tasks (restricted number) given by workshop participants.

Promotion of new books and monographs. Organiser will support promotion of new books and monographs, dealing with medicinal and aromatic plants, for all those participating in the Conference, on the most appropriate way, during the hours especially determined for these purposes.

Promotion of companies, institutions, and related associations. Organiser will provide promotion of companies, institutions, and related associations involved in the medicinal and aromatic plants problematic, on two ways. As the first, supporting oral and video presentations with promotional contents, during the hours reserved in the hall especially determined for these purposes, and later on by renting exhibition area (under the most convenient conditions), which will be attended by interested exposures through full duration of the Conference.

Summaries of introductory and plenary lectures, as well as those of other accepted contributions, will be printed in the Book of Abstracts, which will be distributed to participants during the registration procedure, just before the Conference. Recommendation of the Organisers to the authors of all invited lectures and other accepted papers is to offer their contributions for publishing beyond the Conference in the Proceedings of the I CMAPSEEC, as full papers. Acceptability of all offered contributions will be evaluated by referees selected by Scientific Committee of the Conference. Afterwards, Proceedings of the I CMAPSEEC will be promptly printed.

Official language at the First Conference on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Southeast European Countries (I CMAPSEEC), and joint VI Meeting "Days of Medicinal Plants 2000" (VI MDMP) will be English.

Two hundred words based abstracts of their contributions authors should submit till January 31, 2000. Abstract should contain all relevant data about the contribution. It should be sufficiently concise, but experimental design, results and their appropriate evaluation, as well as the final conclusions should be clearly presented. During the abstract preparation, tables, diagrams, formulas, pictures, and references should be presented only if it is unavoidable. Text should be created in English (by the use of standard programs for text processing - MS Word for Windows). Besides two high quality printed copies (A4, 3 cm margins), the same text should be send on the disk (3.5”), on the Organizers address written below, or as the e-mail message.

Overhead and slide projectors, as well as the system for support of PC-based video presentation will be available.

The host of the I CMAPSEEC will be Aranđelovac (hotel "Izvor"), small town - about 60 km far from Belgrade, easily accessible by bus. For participants coming from abroad, as well as all those starting their trip from Belgrade, round-trip bus transfer Belgrade - Aranđelovac (hotel “Izvor) - Belgrade will be organised separately. During the Conference participants will be in position to take part in a very rich social program.

January 31: Deadline for abstract submission. April 15: Second Announcement, including information about the acceptability of submitted abstracts, guidelines for preparation of full papers and posters, final call for registration and hotel accommodation form. May 29: Deadline for submission of full papers selected for the publishing in the Proceedings of the I CMAPSEEC.