India and Liberia on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in the field of pharmacopoeia, marking a significant step toward regulatory alignment and better access to safe, affordable medicines. The Ministry of Health stated that the agreement aims to establish shared quality standards between the two countries as part of broader efforts to strengthen global health collaboration.

The MoU was signed by India’s Ambassador to Liberia, Manoj Bihari Verma, and Liberia’s Health Minister, Louise M. Kpoto. The Ministry highlighted that the agreement will support improved access to safe and affordable medicines and further strengthen the India-Liberia partnership. The Indian Embassy in Monrovia noted that under the agreement, Liberia will be able to adopt the Indian Pharmacopoeia as a reference for medicine quality standards. This step is described as a “significant advance” in the health partnership between the two nations, expected to boost regulatory collaboration and ensure the availability of effective, safe, and affordable medicines in Liberia.

The Ministry of AYUSH explained that pharmacopoeias are official compilations of drug quality standards used for imported or locally manufactured medicines in India. These monographs define criteria to ensure the identity, purity, and strength of drugs through methods such as botanical identification, physicochemical tests, assays, and advanced analytical techniques like HPTLC, HPLC, GC, UV-Vis Spectrophotometry, AAS, ICP-AES, and ICP-MS. They also set permissible limits for heavy metals, pesticide residues, aflatoxins, and microbial contamination.