Eleven questions to ask an Indian veterinary supplier before you order

India supplies a very large share of the world's generic veterinary medicines, and the quality range runs from plants that pass EU inspections to operations you would not buy soap from. The website tells you almost nothing about which you are talking to. The questions below do.

None of them are hostile. A supplier worth dealing with will answer all eleven in a single email and be pleased you asked, because it means you are a buyer who will not disappear when the first shipment gets complicated.

Who are you actually buying from

1. Do you manufacture this, or do you buy it? Both answers are fine. What matters is that the answer is true and that it stays the same across the whole product range. Many Indian “manufacturers” make four products and buy in eighty. The website will not tell you which is which.

2. Which plant makes it, and what is their licence number? This is the single most useful question in the list. A supplier who names the plant is telling you they have a real relationship with it and that you could, in principle, verify everything they say. A supplier who calls it confidential is protecting a margin, not a secret.

3. What is your IEC, and how long have you been exporting? The Importer Exporter Code is public and cheap to get, so its existence proves little, but the issue date tells you how long the company has actually been in the export business rather than the domestic one.

Certificates, and how to check them

4. Send me the GMP certificate with the number and expiry date, not a picture of it. A certificate collage on a website is decoration. A certificate with a number, an issuing authority and an expiry date is evidence, and you can check it with the state FDA that issued it.

5. Which dosage forms is that GMP certificate scoped to? GMP certification is site-specific and form-specific. A plant certified for oral liquids and tablets tells you nothing about its sterile injectable line, and suppliers quote the certificate they have rather than the one that covers the product you are buying.

6. Can you get a CoPP for this product, and how long will it take? The Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product is what most registration authorities want and it takes two to three weeks in India, longer if legalisation is required. A supplier who says “no problem, very fast” has not obtained one recently.

Product-level questions

7. What is the exact composition, per unit, with strengths? Not “multivitamin supplement”. If the supplier cannot produce a quantitative composition from the manufacturer's specification, your regulatory consultant cannot file anything.

8. What stability data do you hold, and in which climatic zone? Indian plants routinely hold Zone IVb data because that is their home market. If you are filing in Europe or Canada you may need Zone II, and finding out at the dossier stage costs six months.

9. What are the withdrawal periods, and what are they based on? For food-producing species this is not optional. Ask what the figure is based on, because a withdrawal period justified by residue studies and one copied from a competitor's label are not the same thing, and only one survives a query from your authority.

Commercial questions

10. What is the MOQ, and is that your stock minimum or the plant's batch minimum? These two numbers are often ten times apart. Suppliers quote the small one and invoice against the large one.

11. What happens if a batch fails on arrival? Listen for whether the answer includes checking where else that batch went. A supplier who only offers you a credit note has a refund policy. A supplier who traces the batch has a quality system.

Answers that should end the conversation

• “We are approved in 200 countries.” Nobody is. Ask which authority, and for the registration number.
• “We can register the product in your name and hand you the licence.” In the EU, UK, Canada and Australia the holder must be established locally. This answer means they do not know the rules or are hoping you do not.
• “Certificates are confidential.” A GMP certificate is issued by a public authority.
• An ISO claim with no certificate number.
• A price quoted before anyone has asked which country the goods are going to.
• Payment demanded to a personal account, or to a company name that does not match the invoice.

For what we publish on ourselves against this list, see the certification register and the manufacturer list.