Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Author of the OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practice adopted across member countries.
What this page does not claim
SPEQ curates and cross-references these bodies. It is not affiliated with, accredited by, or endorsed by any of them, and a count of decoded standards is a measure of SPEQ’s coverage, not of a body’s importance.
WHAT OECD COVERS
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development developed and maintains the Principles of Good Laboratory Practice, the international framework governing the conduct of non-clinical health and environmental safety studies.
WHAT OECD PUBLISHES
- 01OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practice (as revised)
- 02OECD Series on Principles of GLP and Compliance Monitoring — the advisory documents
- 03OECD Test Guidelines for chemical and toxicological testing
- 04Guidance on GLP application to specific study types, including in-vitro and computerised systems
- 05Consensus documents on compliance monitoring procedures
HOW ITS REQUIREMENTS BITE
OECD does not inspect. Compliance is monitored by national GLP monitoring authorities in member and adhering countries, which inspect test facilities and audit studies. The framework’s real force comes from the Mutual Acceptance of Data system: data generated in one adhering country under GLP must be accepted by regulators in the others, which removes the need to repeat safety studies country by country.
What practitioners get wrong
- Mutual Acceptance of Data is the point of GLP — it is what makes a study accepted internationally without repetition.
- GLP applies to non-clinical safety studies, not to clinical trials or routine QC testing.
- The OECD advisory documents carry much of the practical interpretation, not just the Principles.
- FDA’s 21 CFR Part 58 and the OECD Principles are aligned in intent but differ in points of detail.
WHERE IT SITS INTERNATIONALLY
The OECD GLP framework and FDA’s 21 CFR Part 58 are the two reference regimes, closely aligned in substance, with MAD providing the international acceptance mechanism.
OECD STANDARDS SPEQ DECODES · 3
DISCIPLINES IN OECD’S REMIT
OECD: frequently asked questions
Reference answers on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s mandate, what it publishes, and how its requirements acquire force.
What is OECD GLP?
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development developed and maintains the Principles of Good Laboratory Practice, the international framework governing the conduct of non-clinical health and environmental safety studies. GLP applies to non-clinical safety studies, not to clinical trials or routine QC testing.
What is Mutual Acceptance of Data?
Mutual Acceptance of Data (MAD) is the point of GLP: data generated in one adhering country under GLP must be accepted by regulators in the others, which removes the need to repeat safety studies country by country. OECD does not inspect — national GLP monitoring authorities do.
How does OECD GLP relate to FDA’s Part 58?
The OECD Principles and FDA’s 21 CFR Part 58 are the two reference regimes, closely aligned in substance but differing in points of detail. MAD provides the international acceptance mechanism, and the OECD advisory documents carry much of the practical interpretation.