The authorisation to open, provided for in the first paragraph of Article L. 5124-3, a pharmaceutical establishment, a company or a body mentioned in Article R. 5124-2 is issued by the Director General of the Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé, after obtaining the opinion of the competent Central Council of the Ordre national des pharmaciens and after an administrative enquiry by one of the Agency’s agents, which may take the form of an on-site enquiry by an inspector mentioned in Articles L. 5313-1 and L. 5313-3.
If the Central Council has not given its opinion within two months, the Director General may take a decision.
The opinion of the Central Council is not required for authorisation to open a pharmaceutical establishment dependent on the central pharmacy of the armed forces or the medical supply establishments of the armed forces health service.
Opening authorisations granted to a company or organisation are recorded in the European Union database, in accordance with article 40 of Directive 2001/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 November 2001 on the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use.