Regulatory authorities International Conference

The Electronic Common Technical Document (eCTD) is the vision for future electronic submissions to the FDA. This specification was developed by the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) as an open-standards solution for electronic submissions to worldwide regulatory authorities. The FDA has adopted the eCTD as the future replacement for its other e-submission guidance, although for now the older guidance is still in effect. Note that the eCTD still depends largely on submitting text documents as PDF files and submitting data sets as SAS XPORT transport format files. 

In recent years, regulatory authorities and industry associations have undertaken several important initiatives to promote international harmonization of regulatory requirements. These efforts are designed to enhance harmonization and are committed to seeking scientifically based harmonized technical procedures for pharmaceutical development. These efforts are undertaken under the auspices of the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH), which is organized to provide an opportunity for tripartite... 

ICDRA International Conference of Drug Regulatory Authorities... 

ICH home page. The International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH), a unique project that brings together the regulatory authorities of Europe, Japan and the USA, and experts from the pharmaceutical industry. 

The International Conference on Harmonization (ICH), representing FDA, EU, and Japanese regulatory authorities, produced guidance in 2000 on the manufacmre of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that included computer validation expectations. Not too surprisingly, essential principles were unchanged compared to computer vahdation for fiitished dmg products. The key topics covered were ... 

AU this makes good business sense and should eliminate the need for corrective work because of misunderstood validation requirements. Similar harmonization would appear to be occurring on the topics of electronic records and electronic signatures. Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs) between various national regulatory authorities such as the FDA, MHRA, TGA, and MHLW and the work of the International Conference for Harmonization (ICH) offer an opportunity to formally consolidate harmonized computer validation requirements. 

Hartley, B. 1994. Seventh International conference of Drug Regulatory Authorities, The Hague, Netherlands. P. 10 in WHO/DMP/ICDRA/94 1. 

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