05/06/2015
Good Manufacturing Practices in the NHP Supply Chain
There is an industry joke that GMP actually stands for “Give Me Paper”. Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) bring both opportunity and challenges, but like it or not, this is the direction that the natural health industry is moving.
Health Canada has been on a continuous path of introducing tighter regulations both in the drug and NHP sectors. GMP have been in effect for years, but ingredient manufacturers, importers and wholesalers were not the focus of the regulator.
Nearly a decade ago, Health Canada announced its intention to introduce GMP requirements for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API). That intention culminated in 2013 in adopting regulations for importers and wholesalers of API, requiring that all active ingredients be produced and imported by organizations compliant with Canadian/European GMP standards.
Meanwhile, in the NHP sector, the 2010 NHPD report to the NHP Guidance Committee agreed with the Committee recommendation that “The NHPD should clarify the guidance to emphasize Good Agricultural and Collection Practices and Good Manufacturing Practices” with respect to NHP raw materials.
NHP manufacturers also appear to be on a permanent quest to qualify ingredient suppliers according to ever-increasing standards.
The writing was on the wall three years ago, and Gurvey & Berry made the decision to be at the forefront of the new GMP regulations. As a bulk ingredient supplier, we decided to manage our whole facility under the new GMP guidelines, regardless of the product’s end use. We have therefore invested considerable time and resources to bring our facility into compliance and to offer best in class quality assurance and documentation.
Often it seems our industry is obsessed with pricing. We don’t want to be part of the “race to the bottom” by sourcing product of questionable quality. We have responded by recognizing the need for flexibility and creative partnerships. We understand that our partners are trying to innovate and differentiate themselves in a busy marketplace, and we take the stress out of ingredient procurement by saving our partners time and money. We have in-stock inventory with appropriate shelf life and if we don’t stock the product, we have a network of trusted manufacturers from around the world. Gurvey & Berry has a longstanding distribution partnership with American Laboratories, who is an industry leader in animal proteins and enzymes.
For the past forty years we have built our reputation by living our core values of integrity, accountability, quality, convenience, resourcefulness and service. We’re not the biggest distributor in Canada, but we’re large enough to know, and small enough to care. We are excited to continue providing quality products, in a compliant, timely manner, backed by personalized service.
