Moldova will join the Convention on the Elaboration of a European Pharmacopeia and the Protocol to this Convention. A bill to this effect was passed by the legislature on June 2, IPN reports.

Deputy Minister of Health Liliana Iasan said the joining of the Convention will contribute to harmonizing the national legislation on the manufacture, distribution and circulation of medicines to the Council of Europe’s requirements and will also facilitate the national producers’ access to the European pharmaceutical market, while the quality and safety standards, aligned with the European standards, will ensure the competiveness of the Moldovan pharmaceutical products.

A representative of the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of Moldova will have the status of member of the European Pharmacopeia and will actively take part in its working sessions.

The Convention on the Elaboration of a European Pharmacopeia was signed in Strasbourg in 1964 and took effect in 1974. It was ratified by 37 Council of Europe member states. Moldova will have to pay annual membership dues of over €5,000.

The European Pharmacopoeia aims to provide common quality standards throughout Europe to control the quality of medicines and the substances used to manufacture them. It is a published collection of monographs that describe both the individual and general quality standards for ingredients, dosage forms and methods of analysis for medicines.