International Relations
The Chamber’s international activities aim at:
- On one hand, monitoring legislation under discussion at European level and related to pharmacy or pharmacists;
- On the other hand, benchmarking pharmacy practice at international level, in order to learn from the experience of foreign countries and to anticipate certain developments.
In practice, these monitoring and benchmarking activities focus on three distinct areas:
- European Union
- French-speaking countries
- Rest of the world
European Union
Besides geographical proximity, Europe’s distinctive characteristic is that it constitutes a political community: within the European Union, national authorities and members of the European parliament adopt laws and regulations that can directly apply to pharmacists and to the health products they dispense. On the other hand, matters of professional practice essentially come within national competency.
The Chamber endeavours to anticipate developments in practice and law applicable to the pharmacy profession, and to take in the best professional practice of its close neighbours.
To that end, the Chamber participates in the activities of several European associations:
- EurHeCA : European association of Chambers and similar authorities in charge of healthcare professionals
- Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) : European association of community pharmacy
- European Industrial Pharmacists Group (EIPG) : European association established in France
- EPhEU : European association of employed community pharmacists
| The French Chamber is registered in the European Transparency Register . |
French-speaking countries
The French Chamber heads the International Forum of French-Speaking Chambers of Pharmacists (Conférence internationale des Ordres de pharmaciens francophones – CIOPF ), which gathers 33 Chambers or other organisations with a similar remit.
CIOPF is a non-profit association dedicated to:
- Facilitating professional contacts between French-speaking pharmacists, whatever their area of activity and practice setting, and promoting their role in society;
- Extending the outreach of French-speaking and professional culture, paying special regard to professional ethics;
- Cooperating with any organisation sharing its ethics for the sole purpose of promoting public health.
A forum for information exchange and capacity building, CIOPF also engages in international projects, with a particular focus on the fight against falsified medicines.
More information
> CIOPF
Rest of the world
The National Council of the French Chamber of Pharmacists is a member of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (Fédération internationale pharmaceutique – FIP ) which gathers 139 professional or scientific pharmaceutical organisations. Every year, a few representatives of the Chamber attend the FIP Congress, in order to present the latest professional developments in France and to take inspiration from foreign experiences. The Chamber occasionally participates in working groups and capitalises on international benchmarking reports provided by FIP.
More information
> FIP
