For all medicines, registered or listed, before any applications can be considered you need to be sure that the GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) Certificates for your proposed manufacturers are acceptable to the TGA.
For overseas manufacturers this can be a major issue affecting your budget and time line – for more information go to Applications & Liaison with TGA
The TGA do not recognise the GMP certification issued by all countries. The TGA accepts GMP certificates issued by most EU countries, and countries which have a similar regulatory framework as Australia – such as Canada, USA, Singapore, Sweden, UK – to name a few.
If your manufacturer is in a country that is not recognised by the TGA, then your manufacturer will need to have a GMP licence issued to it by one of the acceptable countries. If that is not the case, you will have no other option except to organise an inspection by an acceptable authority – that can mean serious delays, usually more than 12 months, as well as a significant investment in cost.
For most medicine applications, the GMP clearance for your overseas manufacturers must be approved before you can proceed.
Once your product is approved you will have to maintain the clearances to ensure they are always valid. Valid clearances are required if you wish to submit any variations that relate to quality. If your GMP expires this can result in cancellation of your product and restrictions in supply.- find out more in Maintenance & Renewals.