The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday that the Peruvian government had recognized the Korean Pharmacopeia as that country’s pharmaceutical reference.

A pharmacopeia refers to the code of Medicine, which defines standard rules that determine the basis for the quality of pharmaceutical products, including raw materials for drug, quantitative method, and purity test procedure. Korea is the ninth country in the world the Latin American nation has selected for the purpose.

The referral pharmacopeia list has made through the revision and promulgation of the presidential decree of the Ministry of Health of Peru. It was the first time the Korean Pharmacopoeia listed as the reference of a foreign nation.

From now on, Korean drugmakers exporting medicines designated as essential drugs by the Peruvian government, they can apply quality control standards and test data according to the Korea Pharmacopoeia, instead of the Peruvian, American or European codes.

"It is possible to shorten the time and cost of permitting the export of Korean medicines to Peru,” a ministry official said. "We will promote the international recognition of Korean medicines through multilateral cooperation and help them advance to the global market smoothly."