Australian Therapeutic Goods Advisory Council meeting statement, Meeting 2, 5 February 2013

Record of issues

The Australian Therapeutic Goods Advisory Council (the Council) met for the second time at Parliament House on Tuesday 5 February 2013. The then Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, the Hon. Catherine King, MP attended the meeting over the lunch break, formally welcoming members to the Council.

The meeting focused on reviewing progress against TGA's blueprint reforms and considering planned work for 2013. Members welcomed good progress made in improving transparency and stakeholder engagement, and implementation of the blueprint recommendations more broadly. In planned work for 2013, they highlighted the importance of continuing to strengthen partnerships with key stakeholders.

A report on progress, TGA Reforms: A blueprint for TGA's future: Progress Report as at 31 December 2012, has been published on the TGA website.

Topics of discussion included:

• communication and stakeholder engagement strategies;
• the current pre-approval scheme, complaints handling process and penalties elements of the advertising reform proposal;
• complementary medicines reforms; and
• reforms to the medical devices regulatory framework.

Members continued their discussion on options for managing issues around medicines supply shortages in Australia. Members agreed that there is a need for a more structured approach and clear definition of roles and responsibilities.

Next meeting

The next meeting of the Council is scheduled for 6 August 2013 in Canberra.

For further information on the Council, please contact the Secretary:

Email: atgac@tga.gov.au