The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) will judge how compliant pharmacies are with upcoming European anti-counterfeiting measures during premises inspections, it has announced.

 

If a pharmacy is found to not meet the requirements of the Falsified Medicines Directive the GPhC will enforce its regulatory powers, such as improvement action plans, to ensure that the pharmacy becomes compliant, it revealed on Friday (18 January).

 

The regulator said it is working with the UK’s medicines watchdog the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to enforce the directive, which comes into effect on 9 February

 

The MHRA will be responsible for instigating any action enforcing FMD, including issuing enforcement notices or instigating criminal proceedings ‘for the most serious, persistent breaches’.

 

The two bodies will share information if necessary to ensure that pharmacies meet FMD requirements, the GPhC said.