Batch and expiry control for pharmacies and distributors in Saudi Arabia

This guide covers stock records. Licensing, storage conditions, controlled medicines and reporting to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) are set by the regulators; follow their current requirements and your pharmacist in charge.

What batch control means in practice

Every unit on the shelf should be traceable to a batch: the batch or lot number, the expiry date, the supplier and the delivery it came in on, and the branch where it now sits. With that, three questions have quick answers. What expires next month? Where is batch X now? Who did we sell batch X to?

Receiving: capture it once, at the door

Batch and expiry are cheapest to record when the goods arrive. Typing them later, from memory or from the shelf, is where mistakes start.

• Record the batch and expiry on the goods receipt or supplier bill, line by line.
• Scan the 2D code where packs carry one. Many medicine packs carry a GS1 DataMatrix code holding the product code, batch, expiry and serial number, which removes most typing errors.
• Reject or quarantine short-dated stock that does not meet your purchasing terms, before it reaches the shelf.

Selling: first expiry, first out

Sell the batch that expires first, not the one received first. The two are usually the same, but not always. Your system should suggest the right batch at the counter and record the batch on the invoice, so that a recall can reach the customers who bought it. It should also refuse to sell a batch that has already expired, rather than relying on staff to notice.

Near expiry: act while there is still time

Look at expiry in bands, for example expired, within 30 days, within 60 days and within 90 days, and give each band an action:

• Return to the supplier where your terms allow returns of near-expiry stock, and record the return against the original purchase.
• Move to a branch that sells the item faster.
• Promote slow-moving lines where the rules for that product allow it.
• Write off expired stock with a reason and an approval, and keep it out of saleable quantities until it is disposed of.

Review the 60-day band every week. By the time stock reaches the 30-day band, most of the options have gone.

Quarantine and recall

Some stock must be held without being written off: a delivery with damaged packaging, a batch under investigation or goods awaiting a supplier decision. Quarantine takes it out of available stock with a reason, and releasing it should need a second person's approval.

A recall needs the reverse view: every branch holding the batch, every customer who bought it and every return already received. Practise this once a year with a real batch number, before you need it for real.

For distributors selling to pharmacies

A distributor carries the same batch and expiry duties, plus a few of its own. Each line on a business invoice should show the batch and expiry of the goods supplied, so that the pharmacy can receive them correctly and a recall can follow the goods downstream. Standard tax invoices to pharmacies carry the buyer's VAT number. Credit limits, ageing and customer statements matter as much as stock, because distributors usually sell on terms. And near-expiry returns from customers need a clear policy: what you accept back, at what value, and whether the stock can be resold.

A weekly expiry routine

1. Review the 60-day expiry band and agree an action for each line.
2. Raise supplier returns for stock your terms allow you to return.
3. Check quarantined stock and decide what to release or write off.
4. Count one section of the shelves by batch.

VAT on medicines and other lines

In Saudi Arabia, qualifying medicines and medical equipment can be zero-rated, while other lines a pharmacy sells, such as cosmetics and many personal-care products, are generally standard-rated at 15%. Set the VAT rate on each product, not at the counter, and confirm the zero-rated list for your range with your tax adviser.

Where NAQIX fits

• Batch, expiry and manufacture date are recorded per lot. Purchase bills, goods receipts and stock transfers can read GS1 barcodes, including DataMatrix codes, to fill in the product code, batch, expiry and serial number.
• The batch picker marks the batch to sell first by earliest expiry, and a sale cannot be finalised with an expired batch.
• The batch page groups stock by expiry band. The Expiry Action Centre lists expired stock, stock expiring within 30 and 60 days and slow-moving near-expiry items, with links to start a supplier return or a discount.
• Lots can be quarantined with a reason and released with approval; recalls need their own approval permission, and quarantined stock is excluded from available quantities.
• Stock counts can be done by batch through Excel, and returns marked expired or damaged are not put back into saleable stock.
• The VAT rate is set per product, and Saudi invoices follow the ZATCA status described on the NAQIX page for Saudi Arabia.

First-expiry-first-out selling is on every plan; the Expiry Action Centre, recall and quarantine are included from the Pro plan. NAQIX does not connect to SFDA systems. The Inventory and Purchasing pages list the features, and the pharmacy and wholesale overview describes the vertical.