To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the purpose was in renaming the Medical Control Agency; and whether this represents a change in remit. [114519]

The Secretary of State decided to merge the Medicines Control Agency and the Medical Devices Agency in June 2002. The merged agency is called the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and came into being on 1 April 2003.Most European Union member states have combined the competent authorities which manage the regulation of these sectors, as has the United States. An increasing number of products cross the borderline between medicines and devices.The combined remit of the MHRA remains the regulation of medicines and medical devices and there has been no change in the legislation which underpins the regulation in these sectors as a result of the merger.