On Thursday, March 5th, Nick Pople gave a presentation at the GDP Masterclass organized by PostNL at the University of Antwerp. Nick is an internationally renowned GDP expert and Senior Consultant in GDP with Pauwels Consulting.
We had a short interview with Nick about his contribution to and his lessons learned from the GDP masterclass.
Nick: I enjoyed the GDP workshop. It was very well organized and PostNL had managed to bring together an interesting and varied audience. I spoke with representatives from several pharmaceutical manufacturers, distribution companies, freight forwarders, manufacturers of monitoring equipment and there were at least 2 GDP auditors in the room and various quality monitors from large companies.
It’s always nice to speak to such an interesting and varied audience. This makes the questions and discussion afterwards all the more interesting.

Here you see Nick Pople with Mrs. Andrea Siteur, Commercial Director of PostNL.
Nick: Some of the companies were asking whether GDP would continue to develop and how far it would reach in the supply chain. We now have GDP guidelines for storage and distribution, but I think that the reach of the GDP guidelines will continue to extend to the end user part of the supply chain as well.
I think that in the near future, say 12 to 18 months, GDP guidelines will further develop with regards to veterinary products, and that veterinaries and end users at farms will have to comply with more stringent GDP guidelines.
Nick: I have tried to present a different approach to GDP auditing and preparing for GDP audits. Based on the audience’s feedback, I think that message came across.
I also focused on the difference between quality systems and GDP guidelines. A quality system and GDP guidelines are two different animals. A quality system is a continuous improvement system and GDP guidelines are the law. The GDP guidelines don’t leave room for procrastination. You can’t just “make things better soon”. You have to comply with the guidelines. Now.
Nick: They can always contact me by e-mail through contact@pauwelsconsulting.com and nick.pople@pauwelsconsulting.com. I look forward to answering all GDP related questions.
PostNL GDP presentation
As promised in our previous interview with Nick, we hereby include the (structure of the) presentation Nick gave at the PostNL GDP Masterclass on March 5th.
Should you have any further questions regarding the GDP, GDP audits or preparing for GDP audits, please feel free to contact Nick by e-mail at contact@pauwelsconsulting.com and nick.pople@pauwelsconsulting.com.
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