COTED endorses regulatory system for medicines roadmap

Nov 23, 2016 News

Ministers with responsibility for Trade within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), have endorsed a roadmap for the implementation of the Caribbean Regulatory System for Medicines (CRS).

Mayor of Corriverton, Ganesh Gangadin

The endorsement was made at the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) during its 43rd Meeting held last Thursday and Friday in Providence, East Bank Demerara Guyana.
The CRS was tabled at the COTED given the Council’s mandate to approve standards and technical regulatory systems – in this instance as they pertain to market access for medicines. Under Article 67 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, COTED has responsibility for establishing standardisation programmes consistent with the Treaty and international obligations of Member States. The standardisation programme includes harmonisation of standards and technical regulations.
The endorsement was one of two decisions taken on health-related matters that came before the Trade Meeting. Given the economic and development consequences that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) present, Ministers also discussed inter-sectoral collaboration to fight NCDs in the Region.
They agreed to collaborate with the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) to establish a regional multi-sectoral taskforce to promote and monitor the process of implementation of the priorities the CARICOM Heads of Government have adopted.
At their regular meeting in July this year in Georgetown, Guyana, the CARICOM Heads of Government focused on the issue of NCDs and agreed to adopt a more holistic approach to the subject. They pledged to address issues such as the banning of smoking in public places; trade-related measures; banning advertisement of potentially harmful foods which specifically target children; and elevating taxes on foods high in sugar, salt and trans-fats.
The Caribbean Regulatory System (CRS) is an initiative of the Caribbean Community and Common Market and is managed as a regulatory unit within CARICOM’s regional public health body, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA). It is supported by a number of partners, including the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), PAHO designated National Regulatory Authorities of Regional Reference (NRA/RR) (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, United States), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
The main purpose of the CRS is to strengthen regulatory capacity in CARICOM Member States in support of improved access to safe, quality, efficacious and affordable medicines and health technologies.
The CRS strengthens regulatory capacities through the provision of registration and pharmacovigilance support to Member States, using efficiencies, such as reliance on reference authorities, to enable a sustainable enterprise in the resource-constrained environment of small states.
This contributes to CARPHA’s mandate to prevent diseases, promote health and respond to public health emergencies.

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