Abbreviations used in the GDP Environment

Recommendation
Monday, 3 November 2025 14.00 - 16.00 h
A reliable Basis for Qualifying Service Providers?
During several GDP events organized by the ECA, the wish came up to compile a list of relevant abbreviations used in the GDP environment. The overview, initially published a few months ago, has now been further expanded.
General Abbreviations
| 3PL | Third Party Logistics | 
| ALCOA | Attributable, Legible, Contemporaneous, Original, Accurate | 
| ALCOA+ | Attributable, Legible, Contemporaneous, Original, Accurate, Complete, Consistent, Enduring, and Available | 
| API | Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient | 
| CAPA | Corrective and Preventive Actions | 
| CC | Change Control | 
| CCP | Critical Control Point | 
| CFR | Code of Federal Regulations | 
| CGMP | Current Good Manufacturing Practices | 
| CMO | Contract Manufacturing Organization | 
| COA | Certificate of Analysis | 
| CRT | Controlled Room Temperature | 
| CSV | Computer System Validation | 
| DQ | Design Qualification | 
| DSCSA | Drug Supply Chain Security Act | 
| EEA | European Economic Area | 
| EP | European Pharmacopoeia | 
| ERP | Enterprise Resource Planning | 
| EU | European Union | 
| FD&C Act | (U.S.) Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act | 
| FEFO | First Expiry First Out | 
| FIFO | First In First Out | 
| FMEA | Failure Mode and Effects Analysis | 
| GDP | Good Distribution Practice | 
| GDocP | Good Documentation Practice | 
| GMP | Good Manufacturing Practices | 
| GSP | Good Storage Practice | 
| HACCP | Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points | 
| IMP | Investigational Medicinal Product | 
| IQ | Installation Qualification | 
| IoT | Internet of Things | 
| KPI | Key Performance Indicator | 
| LIFO | Last In First Out | 
| MAA | Marketing Authorisation Application | 
| MAH | Marketing Authorisation Holder | 
| MIA | Manufacture and Import Authorisation | 
| MKT | Mean Kinetic Temperature | 
| OOS | Out-of-Specification (test results) | 
| OQ | Operational Qualification | 
| OTC | Over-the-Counter (medications) | 
| Ph. Eur. | European Pharmacopoeia | 
| PQ | Performance Qualification | 
| QA | Quality Agreement | 
| QA | Quality Assurance | 
| QC | Quality Control | 
| QM | Quality Management | 
| QMS | Quality Management System | 
| QP | Qualified Person | 
| QRMS | Quality and Risk Management System | 
| RA | Risk Analysis | 
| RFID | Radio Frequency Identification | 
| RP | Responsible Person | 
| SDP | Service delivery point | 
| SMF | Site Master File | 
| SOP | Standard Operating Procedure | 
| TCU | Temperature-controlled unit | 
| TOS | Time out of storage | 
| TOR | Time out of refrigeration | 
| TTSPP | Time and Temperature Sensitive Pharmaceutical Products | 
| WDA | Wholesale Distribution Authorisation | 
| WMS | Warehouse Management System | 
Authorities and Organisations
| ANVISA | Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (Brazil) | www.gov.br/anvisa/pt-br | 
| APIC | Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Committee | www.apic.cefic.org | 
| DIN | Deutsches Institut für Normung | www.din.de | 
| ECA | European Compliance Academy | www.gmp-compliance.org | 
| EDQM | European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare | www.edqm.eu/en | 
| EMA | European Medicines Agency | www.ema.europa.eu | 
| FDA | U.S. Food and Drug Administration | www.fda.gov | 
| GDPA | European GDP Association | www.good-distribution-practice-group.org | 
| HSA | Health Sciences Authority (Singapore) | www.hsa.gov.sg | 
| IATA | International Air Transport Association | www.iata.org | 
| ICH | International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use | www.ich.org | 
| IPEC | International Pharmaceutical Excipients Council | www.ipec-europe.org | 
| ISO | International Organization for Standardization | www.iso.org | 
| ISPE | International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering | www.ispe.org | 
| MFDS | Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Korea) | www.mfds.go.kr | 
| MHRA | Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom) | www.gov.uk/government/organisations/medicines-and-healthcare-products-regulatory-agency | 
| PDA | Parenteral Drug Association | www.pda.org | 
| PIC/S | Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme | www.picscheme.org | 
| SFDA | Saudi Food and Drug Authority | |
| Swissmedic | Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products | www.swissmedic.ch | 
| TITCK | Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency | www.titck.gov.tr | 
| USP | United States Pharmacopeia | www.usp.org | 
| WHO | World Health Organization | www.who.int | 
Related GMP News
14.10.2025MHRA Blog Post: GDP in the Aviation and Marine Sectors
14.10.2025Commercial GDP Certificates: Helpful Tool or Questionable Assurance?
14.10.2025Mean Kinetic Temperature (MKT): Calculation, Benefits, and Limitations
14.10.2025Fiscal Importation within the EEA - Discussion of ECA GDP Survey Results
16.09.2025BioPhorum Survey on -40 °C Drug Substance Storage Practices



