QP Regulations Legal Basis for Qualified Persons in Europe. The Legal Basis for the Qualified Person is defined in the DIRECTIVE 2001/83/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 6 NOVEMBER 2001 ON THE COMMUNITY CODE RELATING TO MEDICINAL PRODUCTS FOR HUMAN USE. For Veterinary Products, the requirements are defined in DIRECTIVE 2001/82/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 November 2001 on the Community code relating to veterinary medicinal products. In Article 48, the Directive 2001/83 (for veterinary medicinal products, please read Article 52 of Directive 2001/82) requests that EU Member States have to assure that each holder of a manufacturing authorization has to have at least one QP. 1. Member States shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the holder of the manufacturing authorization has permanently and continuously at his disposal the services of at least one qualified person, in accordance with the conditions laid down in Article 49, responsible in particular for carrying out the duties specified in Article 51. 2. If he personally fulfils the conditions laid down in Article 49, the holder of the authorization may himself assume the responsibility referred to in paragraph 1. In Article 49 of Directive 2001/83 (for veterinary medicinal products, please read Article 53 of Directive 2001/82), the qualification level as well as the necessary experience of a QP is defined 1. Member States shall ensure that the qualified person referred to in Article 48 fulfils the minimum conditions of qualification set out in paragraphs 2 and 3. 2. A qualified person shall be in possession of a diploma, certificate or other evidence of formal qualifications awarded on completion of a university course of study, or a course recognized as equivalent by the Member State concerned, extending over a period of at least four years of theoretical and practical study in one of the following scientific disciplines: pharmacy, medicine, veterinary medicine, chemistry, pharmaceutical chemistry and technology, biology. However, the minimum duration of the university course may be three and a half years where the course is followed by a period of theoretical and practical training of a minimum duration of one year and including a training period of at least six months in a pharmacy open to the public, corroborated by an examination at university level. Where two university courses or two courses recognized by the State as equivalent co-exist in a Member State and where one of these extends over four years and the other over three years, the three-year course leading to a diploma, certificate or other evidence of formal qualifications awarded on completion of a university course or its recognized equivalent shall be considered to fulfil the condition of duration referred to in the second subparagraph in so far as the diplomas, certificates or other evidence of formal qualifications awarded on completion of both courses are recognized as equivalent by the State in question. The course shall include theoretical and practical study bearing upon at least the following basic subjects: Applied physics General and inorganic chemistry Organic chemistry Analytical chemistry Pharmaceutical chemistry including analysis of medicinal products General and applied biochemistry (medical) Physiology Microbiology Pharmacology Pharmaceutical technology Toxicology Pharmacognosy (study of the composition and effects of the natural active substances of plant and animal origin). Studies in these subjects should be so balanced as to enable the person concerned to fulfil the obligations specified in Article 51. In so far as certain diplomas, certificates or other evidence of formal qualifications mentioned in the first subparagraph do not fulfil the criteria laid down in this paragraph, the competent authority of the Member State shall ensure that the person concerned provides evidence of adequate knowledge of the subjects involved. 3. The qualified person shall have acquired practical experience over at least two years, in one or more undertakings which are authorized to manufacture medicinal products, in the activities of qualitative analysis of medicinal products, of quantitative analysis of active substances and of the testing and checking necessary to ensure the quality of medicinal products. The duration of practical experience may be reduced by one year where a university course lasts for at least five years and by a year and a half where the course lasts for at least six years. The responsibilities of a Qualified Person are defined in Article 51 of Directive 2001/83 (for veterinary medicinal products, please read Article 55 of Directive 2001/82) 1. Member States shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the qualified person referred to in Article 48, without prejudice to his relationship with the holder of the manufacturing authorization, is responsible, in the context of the procedures referred to in Article 52, for securing: (a) in the case of medicinal products manufactured within the Member States concerned, that each batch of medicinal products has been manufactured and checked in compliance with the laws in force in that Member State and in accordance with the requirements of the marketing authorization; (b) in the case of medicinal products coming from third countries, that each production batch has undergone in the importing Member State a full qualitative analysis, a quantitative analysis of at least all the active constituents and all the other tests or checks necessary to ensure the quality of medicinal products in accordance with the requirements of the marketing authorization. The batches of medicinal products which have undergone such controls in a Member State shall be exempt from the controls if they are marketed in another Member State, accompanied by the control reports signed by the qualified person. 2. In the case of medicinal products imported from a third country, where appropriate arrangements have been made by the Community with the exporting country to ensure that the manufacturer of the medicinal product applies standards of good manufacturing practice at least equivalent to those laid down by the Community, and to ensure that the controls referred to under point (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 have been carried out in the exporting country, the qualified person may be relieved of responsibility for carrying out those controls. 3. In all cases and particularly where the medicinal products are released for sale, the qualified person must certify in a register or equivalent document provided for that purpose, that each production batch satisfies the provisions of this Article; the said register or equivalent document must be kept up to date as operations are carried out and must remain at the disposal of the agents of the competent authority for the period specified in the provisions of the Member State concerned and in any event for at least five years. The following Guidances contain further requirements for the tasks to be fulfilled by a Qualified Person in Europe EU GMP Guide to Good Manufacturing Practices Especially: Annex 16 to the EU Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice Certification by a Qualified Person and Batch Release