According to its Terms of Reference, the primary responsibilities of the Committee of Experts CD-P-PH/PHO are as follows:

• review the national legal supply status of medicinal products for human use and issue recommendations on the classification of medicines and their supply conditions to health authorities of the Council of Europe member States which are parties to the Ph. Eur. Convention;
• compile evidence-based classification reviews focusing on therapeutic classes of medicines authorised via decentralised, mutual recognition and national marketing authorisation procedures, relevant for public health but not harmonised in terms of classification status;
• ensure that the Melclass database is up-to-date and enhance the database overall data quality and completeness (note: the Melclass database contains the CD-P-PH/PHO’s recommendations on the classification of medicines, and national information about the classification status and supply conditions of medicines in member States);
• examine medication safety signals arising at national and European level as well as recommendations following signal assessments, and assess the need for a revision of the recommendations on the classification status of the medicines of interest.

In addition, the Committee of Experts CD-P-PH/PHO contributes to a joint initiative with the Committees of Experts CD-P-PH/CMED and CD-P-PH/PC that aims to revise Resolution ResAP(2007)2 on good practices for distributing medicines via mail order with a view to aligning it with the latest developments in the field (e.g. new EU regulation concerning online pharmacies, digitalisation of healthcare, e-prescribing).