Established in 1964, the European Pharmacopoeia was set up to harmonise medical standards to make drugs safer for the consumers. The harmonisation, with the implied national requirements, also has the advantage of facilitating imports and exports of medicines. The European pharmacopoeia, in collaboration with the EU, is mainly concerned with the quality aspect of European medicines policy and covers all phases from composition, manufacturing, marketing and quality control.
02/02/2006 ::
The new European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines (EDQM) was set up by the Council of Europe in 1995 and encompasses the quality control process before, during and after the production of a medicine. From the simplest pill to the complex medicine, the EDQM set standards for European medicine.
The European Pharmacopoeia Commission operates under the overall supervision of the Public Health Committee.
Norway ratified the Convention on the elaboration of a European Pharmacopoeia in 1989, the total number of accessions being 35 including the European Union.