Life Sciences

The Life Sciences Committee is focused on European and World Health Organization (WHO) initiatives, which affect the chemical distributors.

Description

Initially, the Committee had focused on the pharmaceutical sector, where Fecc Members are committed to the WHO standards for Good Trade and Distribution Practice (GTDP). However, the Committee has recently expanded its activities to include food, feed and cosmetics industries, where it monitors European and international initiatives and works actively to define Good Trade and Distribution Practices for these sectors.

The Commitee formulates Fecc positions related to the distribution of pharmaceutical starting materials aimed at the European and global health authorities. Furthermore, the Committee facilitates GTDP education for Fecc Members by organizing technical seminars and conferences on related issues.

The Committee also acts as a stakeholder in relevant meetings with the European and International regulatory authorities, including the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the Council of Europe, the WHO and the European Food Safety Authorities (EFSA). It monitors and works closely with other international organizations involved in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

Objectives

The life Sciences Committee monitors European and international initiatives and do an active review of the regulatory evolution, which affect the chemical distributors, covering Food, Feed, Pharma and Cosmetics. This will help to ensure that the voice of the chemical distributors is heard in the European debate, and indeed globally. This committee creates a unique networking opportunity between Chemical Distributors active in those sectors. The committee works closely with other associations and also acts as a stakeholder in relevant meetings with the European and International regulatory authorities. Furthermore, the Committee facilitates education for Fecc Members by organizing technical seminars and conferences on related issues.

The Fecc’s activities in the field of Life Sciences are:

Monitoring activities. Monitor and assess all developments related to the food and feed, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals sectors.
Implementation of guidelines. Develop guidance on how to implement the principles of standardisation in the daily processes, operations and business models. In this framework, Fecc has partnered with various organisations to organise webinars on food fraud, the ISO 16128 cosmetics standards and EXCiPACT certification. The following topics are also included in the committee’s working programme: RSPO/Due Diligence, Titanium Dioxide, Food contact materials and Food fraud
Stakeholder engagement. Fecc, represented by its Life Sciences Committee, regularly engages with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).