Industrial Services Support

Pursuant to enforcing Sections 106 and 115 of Part 7 of the Public Health Act 2012, (Act 851), the Industrial Support Services Directorate (ISSD) offers technical assistance to industry whose activities fall under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) to bring the industry into compliance.

The assistance is directed at industries having challenges adhering to good practices of regulatory importance due to deficiencies in technical expertise or lack of appropriate knowledge of the industry.

The Directorate has Two (2) Departments through which it supports industry. These are,

1. Technical Support Department (TSD).
2. Capacity Strengthening Department (CSD).

The services come in two forms, either as training of personnel of industry in subjects of regulatory requirements and that is carried out by the Capacity Strengthening Department or assisting industry by way of guidance to be able to implement relevant regulatory required systems, which is carried out by the Technical Support Department.

Some of the training offered by CSD include:

1. Good Manufacturing Practices
2. Good Hygienic Practices
3. Good Storage and Distribution Practices
4. Cold Chain Management
5. Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Point
6. Food Allergen Management

There are also specialised training courses such as Food Safety Supervision and Qualification as a Quality Officer for the Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Industries.

Beside these, CSD offers tailor-made training to suite a particular industry needs upon request. Training is offered in two formats and may either be in-person or online.

Other services offered by the TSD are,

1. The provision of industrial support/technical assistance to the local manufacturing industries of regulated products as well as importers of such products to ensure conformance to the principles of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good Hygienic Practices (GHP), Good Storage Practices (GSP) and Good Distribution Practices (GDP).
2. Conduct of gap /needs assessments of manufacturing industries to identify GMP/GHP/GSP and GDP deficiencies for redress.
3. Evaluation of conceptual designs and schematic drawings of new manufacturing facilities before construction to ensure conformance to regulatory requirements.
4. Periodic monitoring of construction of pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities to ensure conformance to regulatory requirements.

TSD also also supports the installation of food safety management tools such Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) and other tools appropriate for the food sector to promote food safety. It is also mandated to perform regular audits of HACCP systems to facilitate the issue of HACCP Certificate.

Pharmaceutical, Cosmetics and the Herbal Manufacturing entities are supported in the areas of installation of good manufacturing practices (GMP) to align their operations with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) standard requirements.