[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 147 (Tuesday, October 13, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING UNITED STATES PHARMACOPEIAL CONVENTION OCTOBER 13, 2009

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                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 13, 2009

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, in recognition of World Standards 
Week, which was observed last week, I rise to salute the United States 
Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), which is based in my district in 
Rockville, Maryland and has sites in China, India, Brazil, and 
Switzerland.
  Since 1820, USP, a non-profit organization, has worked to improve the 
health of people around the world through public standards and related 
programs that help ensure the quality, safety and benefits of medicines 
and foods. It has worked closely with the FDA to develop and revise 
drug quality standards. It also sets food ingredient standards and 
offers voluntary verification programs for pharmaceutical ingredients, 
dietary supplements, and ingredients used in dietary supplements.
  USP's drug standards are legally enforceable by the Food and Drug 
Administration in the United States, and its standards for drugs, food 
ingredients and dietary supplements are used and relied upon in more 
than 130 countries. As part of its mission, USP works with a broad 
range of standards-setting bodies toward the common goals of inter-
organizational cooperation and the widespread dissemination of 
standards. These bodies include the American National Standards 
Institute, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the 
International Standards Organization, the International Bureau of 
Weights and Measures, the European Directorate for the Quality of 
Medicines, the Chinese National Institute for the Control of 
Pharmaceutical and Biological Products, the Japanese Pharmacopeia, the 
British National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, and 
many others throughout the world.
  Patients, consumers, manufacturers, and taxpayers are the ultimate 
beneficiaries of USP's efforts, and are able to possess greater 
confidence about the identity and quality of these products in the 
marketplace. Assisted by more than 1,000 volunteers worldwide, USP 
engages in public processes to ensure unbiased, independent, 
authoritative, science-based decision-making.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in saluting the U.S. Pharmacopeial 
Convention for its efforts to enhance food and drug safety standards 
around the world.

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