IADSA to Release First Ever Global GMP Guide

Expected to be an important tool for both companies and governments worldwide, the guide covers quality management, premises and equipment, personnel and training, product and process development, manufacture, storage, transport and distribution.

3/16/2011 --- The International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA) will next month release its guide to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) for food supplement manufacturers across the globe. 

The ‘Global Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice for Supplements’, agreed at IADSA’s Annual Meeting in California last week, aims to give guidelines for the promotion of best practice in the production of supplements, including manufacturing, quality control, packaging, distribution and storage.

Expected to be an important tool for both companies and governments worldwide, the guide covers quality management, premises and equipment, personnel and training, product and process development, manufacture, storage, transport and distribution.

It also gives recommendations in areas critical to the manufacture of high quality products, including the recovery or re-working of materials, documentation, self-inspections, sub-contracting operations, laboratory testing, complaints procedures, product recall and emergency procedures.

“Supplements must comply with all relevant aspects of legislation in their country or countries of production and sale, in terms of composition, manufacture and control,” said IADSA Chairman Peter Zambetti. “This guide has been developed for use by every supplement manufacturer, from the smallest independent business to the largest corporation, within the poorest country to the wealthiest. Considerable thought has been given to the terminology used throughout the guide, due to the contrasting legislative positioning of supplements in different parts of the world and the global variations in interpretation of specific words and phrases.”

The guide has taken into close consideration GMP guides that are in use across all continents of the globe.

“This is the culmination of many months of work and discussion over the past year by a number of leading experts in this field,” said Sam Jennings, Coordinator of IADSA’s GMP Working Group. “We have had high level input from the ASEAN region, Europe, Japan and the USA. This is invaluable because manufacturers and distributors of supplements should not only comply with all relevant national legislation in their home country, but also that of any countries to which they export their products.”