It is a matter of pleasure to bring in the kind notice that the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission has participated in the twelfth round of the Laboratory Medicines Control Section of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (LMCS-FIP) proficiency testing programme-2010.

            This year 48 laboratories from 41 different countries joined the programme. The origin of the participating laboratories is as follows:

• Europe             :        20 laboratories
• Asia                 :        13 laboratories
• Africa               :        8 laboratories
• America           :        6 laboratories
• Australia           :        1 laboratory

            Each laboratory received a box with 3 samples. The programme of this year covered:

a)      The determination of the content of bupivacaine HCl monohydrate in bupivacaine HCl monohydrate injection 5 mg = 1 ml (batch: 09L13);

b)      The pH measurement of bupivacaine HCl monohydrate injection 5 mg = 1 ml;

c)      The relative density measurement of propylene glycol (batch: 09L05);

d)      The refractive index measurement of propylene glycol (batch: 09L05);

e)      The melting point measurement of caffeine (batch: 09L06).

The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission has performed the test protocols on all the five different tracks. The results from the Commission are found to be close to real values and qualified for the proficiency testing programme.