Geneva, 29 September 2021: On 24 September 2021, China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) submitted an application for “pre-accession” to PIC/S. This is a voluntary but highly recommended assessment step that can be completed prior to submitting an application to become a PIC/S Participating Authority. The Pre-Accession Procedure provides up to 2 years to identify any gaps between PIC/S membership requirements and the system used by the interested Competent Authority. This step helps in understanding of PIC/S’ expectations in terms of membership and compliance to facilitate success in any future membership application under the PIC/S Accession Procedure. You can find more information about the two steps in PIC/S’s Pre-Accession and Accession Procedures on our website. As a next step, the PIC/S Committee will nominate a Rapporteur and one or several Co-Rapporteurs, who will manage and oversee NMPA’s pre-accession process.
The revised Annex 1 on “sterile manufacturing of the PIC/S GMP Guide entered into force on 25 August 2023 and has been published on https://picscheme.org/en/publications. It entered into operation the same day as the revised Annex 1 of the EU GMP Guide, which is identical with PIC/S Annex 1 (with some minor differences). The revised Annex 1 is now applicable with the exception of paragraph 8.123. This paragraph has a later date of entry into force, which is on 25 August 2024. For the background to the revision of Annex 1, see https://picscheme.org/en/news?dateselect=2022
The revised Annex 1 is an integral part of the PIC/S GMP Guide (PE 009-17), which has also been revised. The GMP Guide has 4 parts: Introduction, Part I, Part II, and Annexes. Annex 1 can be found under ‘PIC/S GMP Guide (PE 009-17) Annexes’.
Geneva, 7 August 2023: On 20 June 2023, Philippines Food and Drug Administration (FDA PH) submitted a complete membership application to PIC/S.
The Rapporteur(s) will be appointed by written procedure.
Geneva, 2 August 2023: Registrations for the 2023 PIC/S Seminar on “Soft Skills that Make a Good GMP/GDP Inspector in 2023” which will be hosted by Thai FDA from 8-10 November 2023 are now open (for Medicines Regulatory Authorities only). Deadline for registration is 31 October 2023.
For more information, please contact the PIC/S Secretariat.
Geneva, 12 June 2023: The PIC/S Committee has invited Bulgaria’s Bulgarian Drug Agency (BDA) and Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) to join the PIC Scheme.
Bulgaria / BDA will become PIC/S’ 55th Participating Authority and Saudi Arabia / SFDA PIC/S 56th Participating Authority as from 1 July 2023.
BDA submitted a complete membership application in August 2018. The PIC/S assessment was combined with a Canadian MRA assessment and EMA JAP audit. A paper assessment was carried out followed by a joint tripartite PIC/S – EMA - Canada MRA on-site assessment visit which took place in February 2023, after establishment of the new system for the GMP Inspectorate of BDA [following a JAP audit in 2018]. The assessment report was finalised in April 2023. The Audit team recommended to the Committee to accept the PIC/S membership application of BDA, which was endorsed by the PIC/S Sub-Committee on Compliance (SCC). At its meeting in Geneva on 11-12 May 2023, the PIC/S Committee then unanimously accepted the membership of BDA in PIC/S as from 1 July 2023.
SFDA submitted a complete membership application in February 2020, after successfully completing the pre-accession process. This facilitated the accession process. A paper assessment was carried out followed by an on-site assessment visit which took place in March 2023. The assessment report was finalised in the course of April 2023. The Audit team recommended to the Committee to accept the PIC/S membership application of SFDA, which was endorsed by the PIC/S Sub-Committee on Compliance (SCC). At its meeting in Geneva on 11-12 May 2023, the PIC/S Committee then unanimously accepted the membership of SFDA in PIC/S as from 1 July 2023.
Geneva, 12 June 2023: A new PIC/S Deputy Chairperson and a new PIC/S Sub-Committee on Strategic Development (SCSD) Chair took office on 11 May 2023. Due to the retirement from her Agency of the former PIC/S Deputy Chairperson and SCSD Chairperson, Susan Laska (US FDA), the PIC/S Committee carried out by-elections at its last meeting in Geneva on 11-12 May 2023. It unanimously elected Mr Jacques Morénas (France / ANSM) as new PIC/S Deputy Chairperson - in addition to his current position of PIC/S Sub-Committee on Training (SCT) Chair - and elected Ms Jennifer Burnett (Australia / TGA) as new PIC/S Sub-Committee on Strategic Development (SCSD) Chair. All other Executive Bureau Members remain the same.
With these changes, the new composition of the Executive Bureau for the remaining of the period 2022-2023 consists of: