USP Communications Policy on Public References to Use of Branded Instruments or Equipment

Policy for USP Identification of Branded Instruments or Equipment

  1. Pursuant to the USP Code of Ethics, USP avoids any arrangement or activity that creates an impression that USP is endorsing a particular company’s products or services.
  2. Whenever a particular instrument or equipment is named in the course of standard development, such as In Process Revisions proposed for public comment in USP’s free online Pharmacopeial Forum (PF) for USP–NF, or in USP’s free online Food Chemicals Codex Forum (FCCF) for FCC, or in online notices related to the Herbal Medicines Compendium, the brand name may be provided solely for informational purposes, without implication of USP approval, endorsement or certification, or that any brands not named were judged to be unsatisfactory or inadequate.
  3. USP will also include an appropriate disclaimer 2 whenever particular instruments or equipment are named by USP in scientific posters, presentations, writings, advertisements, fact sheets and promotional materials.

Policy for Vendors/Sponsors

  1. Vendors and sponsors may make factual statements about USP’s usage of a company’s branded instruments or equipment, in public communications including promotional materials.
  2. Examples:
    • The chromatographic procedure in the Assay and the test for Organic Impurities for the new USP monograph for [XXX drug substance] was based on analyses performed with [XXX company’s brand of column].
    • USP uses [XXX brand of instrument or equipment] in its laboratories” Or “in all of its laboratories.
    • USP uses [XXX brand of instrument or equipment] in its laboratory/ies in” select one or all “Rockville MD, Hyderabad, India, Shanghai, China and Sao Paulo, Brazil.
    • The instrument or equipment was loaned for trial purposes to assess its suitability for routine use in USP laboratories.” Or alternatively “was donated by [XXX company] to support USP’s standard setting activities.”
  3. Public statements may not suggest or imply USP approval, endorsement or certification of any particular brand of instrument or equipment, or that any other brand was found by USP to be unsatisfactory or inadequate.

Example: “Certain commercial equipment, instruments, vendors, or materials may be identified in this paper to specify adequately the experimental procedure. Such identification does not imply approval, endorsement, or certification by USP of a particular brand or product, nor does it imply that the equipment, instrument, vendor, or material is necessarily the best available for the purpose or that any other brand or product was judged to be unsatisfactory or inadequate. All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners.