Bhutan Food and Drug Authority

The Bhutan Food and Drug Authority (BFDA) is the agency of the Royal Government of Bhutan responsible for safeguarding public health through the regulation of food, medicines, narcotics and related agricultural products. It operates under the Ministry of Health and is the country's principal food-safety and medical-products regulator.^[1]

Formation

The BFDA was created under the Civil Service Reform Act of Bhutan 2022, which merged three previously separate bodies: the Drug Regulatory Authority (DRA), the Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority (BAFRA) and the Bhutan Narcotics Control Authority (BNCA). DRA and BNCA had been autonomous agencies and BAFRA a unit under the then Ministry of Agriculture and Forests; their consolidation brought food, drug and narcotics regulation under a single authority within the Ministry of Health.^[1]

Mandate

The Authority regulates a wide range of products — human and veterinary medicines, vaccines, blood products, traditional medicines, health supplements and medical devices, as well as food quality and safety and the control of narcotic substances. Its work draws on a body of legislation including the Food Act of Bhutan 2005, the Livestock Act 2001, the Plant Quarantine Act 1993 and the Biosafety Act 2015, among others.^[2]

See also

• Drug Policy in Bhutan

References

1. "Background." Bhutan Food and Drug Authority, Royal Government of Bhutan.
2. Bhutan Food and Drug Authority (official site).