Swedish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry

An important feature of the code is its universal applicability. All companies that are members of an affiliated trade association (e.g. ABPI [Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries], LEEM [Les enterprises du medicament or French Pharmaceutical Companies Association], LIF [Swedish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry], Interpharma) are required to apply the minimum standards of the code wherever they do business. Companies entering into licensing and agency agreements are expected to require their licensees and agents to respect the provisions of the IFPMA code. 

Swedish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry. Code of Marketing Practice, June 2002 (www.lif.se/pdf/Rules drug information.pdf). 

The Swedish Classification Scheme initiated in 2005 by the Swedish Association of Pharmacy Industries (LIF), the Swedish Medical Products Agency, Apoteket (National Corporation of Swedish Pharmacies), the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions and the Stockholm County Council, take in account Persistence, Bioaccumulation and Toxicity (PBT) characteristics of pharmaceutical products. This voluntary scheme looks at the environmental hazard and the associated risk of pharmaceutical products. The environmental risk is calculated based on the ratio PEC/PNEC according to the EMEA guideline [17,124, 127]. The obtained information is only available on the website www.fss.se, since due to European restrictions it is not possible to include warning labels on the packaging of medications [17]. 

In order to learn more, and if possibly decrease environmental impacts through adjusted prescription patterns, the Research-based Pharmaceutical Industry in Sweden (LIE [20]) has developed an enviromnental classification scheme for pharmaceutical substances[21] The model for presenting environmental data was developed in collaboration with Stockholm County Council, the pharmacy chain Apoteket AB, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKL), and the Swedish Medical Products Agency MPA. The goal was to develop a model, which clearly shows environmental information, both to interested members of the public, to healthcare professionals and pharmacists. The environmental information draws on data from the pharmaceutical companies, often generated in the preparation phase... 

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