The US Food and Drug Administration issued three guidance designed to help ensure the safety of FDA-regulated products in the supply chain.

The document issued include, final Guidance for Industry on Voluntary Third-Party Certification Programmes for Foods and Feeds; Draft Guidance for Industry on Submission of Laboratory Packages by Accredited Laboratories; and Draft Guidance for Industry on Standards for Securing the Drug Supply Chain - Standardized Numerical Identification for Prescription Drug Packages.

"The guidance documents reflect the FDA's continued vigorous efforts to minimize the chances of unsafe products reaching American consumers," said Jeffrey Shuren, associate commissioner for policy and planning.

The Final Guidance for Industry on Voluntary Third-Party Certification Programmes for Foods and Feeds discusses the attributes of a third-party certification programme that would merit the FDA's confidence in the quality of the programme's audit. The guidance, finalizing a draft published on July 10, 2008, is intended as one of the steps in the FDA's future recognition of voluntary third-party certification programmes for foods and animal feeds. The document makes clear that it applies to any third-party certification body, including a private entity or a non-FDA federal, state, local or foreign regulatory body. Third-party certification programmes can augment the ability of the FDA and the importing community to verify product safety.

The Draft Guidance for Industry on Submission of Laboratory Packages by Accredited Laboratories is intended to enhance the quality and reliability of test results submitted by importers to demonstrate that their products meet the FDA's requirements. The guidance advises importers how to use accredited -- rather than non-accredited -- laboratories and makes recommendations about the quality and type of test data and information that these laboratories should produce in support of test results submitted to the FDA. The draft guidance is also intended to reduce the likelihood that an importer will select only favourable test results to submit to the FDA.

The Draft Guidance for Industry on Standards for Securing the Drug Supply Chain - Standardized Numerical Identification for Prescription Drug Packages is the first of several guidance and regulations that the FDA may issue to implement Section 913 of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007. This guidance recommends the standards that industry should use for the identification of individual packages containing prescription drugs. These standards will facilitate the adoption of a uniform electronic track and trace system for prescription drugs to further improve their safety and security. Both draft guidance have a 90-day comment period.

All three guidance support the FDA's import strategy emphasizing prevention of harm, intervention when risks are identified, and rapid response after harm has occurred.

The FDA's guidance documents do not establish legally enforceable responsibilities. Instead, guidance describe the agency's current thinking on a topic and should be viewed only as recommendations, unless specific regulatory or statutory requirements are cited.