Saudi Arabia began taking practical steps that would urge pharmaceutical companies to register at the Saudi Numbering Center and update their data and product lists in compliance with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority regulations for the drug tracking system.
The Council of Saudi Chambers, represented by the Saudi Numbering Center, urged the pharmaceutical companies in the Kingdom to register with the Center, noting the importance of this system for the pharmaceutical sector.
The importance of this system lies in identifying information about the availability of drugs in the market, the possibility of rapid control of the drug in case of reservations as well as knowledge of the low sale of fake and smuggled drugs and in helping patients find suitable alternatives to the prescribed drugs.
During the workshop, which was organized by the Saudi Numbering Center in cooperation with the SFDA and attended by about 100 representatives of pharmaceutical companies and drug warehouses, the attendees were briefed on the registration mechanism at the site to obtain the international number of their products and their requirements.
This step comes within the framework of the SFDA’s plan to activate the drug tracking system, which required in its previous stages the inclusion of a two-dimensional (2D) barcode with the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) of the drug and the serial number of each package.
In this case, it will be necessary for each facility that manufactures, stores or distributes products to include the Global Location Number (GLN), through which its site can be located.
Notably, the GLN can be obtained through the Saudi Numbering Center of the Council of Saudi Chambers.
In order for each local factory or a warehouse of human medicines in the Kingdom to complete its registration number (GLN), it will have to update its registration data in the Drug Establishments National Registry (DENR) and the Establishment Licensing System (ELS) by adding the GLN in the designated fields, explained Secretary General of the Council of Saudi Chambers Dr. Saud bin Abdulaziz al-Mishari.
The SFDA has set February 28 as the deadline for completion of this process.
The Saudi Ministry of Health works to satisfy the consumers’ aspirations through high quality private and public health services.
