cGMP
Current Good Manufacturing Practice — the FDA quality system requirements for facilities that receive, store, handle, or process supplements, food, drugs, and cosmetics. A cGMP-compliant 3PL is one whose receiving, storage, and pick-pack operations meet FDA cGMP standards.
What cGMP means
cGMP stands for current Good Manufacturing Practice. The lowercase "c" is important — it signals that the standards must keep up with current technology and methods, not just legacy practices.
The FDA enforces cGMP under 21 CFR Part 111 (for dietary supplements), Part 110 (for food), Part 211 (for pharmaceuticals), and additional rules for medical devices and cosmetics. The core principle is the same across all of them: build quality into your operations, document everything, and be auditable on demand.
cGMP for fulfillment partners
You might not be a manufacturer, but if your 3PL receives, stores, picks, and ships your supplements or supplement-adjacent product, the FDA expects them to operate to cGMP standards. In practice this means:
- Receiving controls — every inbound unit is identified, lot-coded, and quarantined until QA release.
- Storage controls — climate-controlled where required, FIFO/FEFO rotation, segregation of incompatible products.
- Pick-pack controls — lot-coded pick lists, two-person verification on high-risk products, batch records.
- Recall readiness — full lot trace from raw material to consumer in under 24 hours.
- Documented SOPs — written procedures for every operational step, signed off and audit-ready.
- Personnel training — staff trained on cGMP and current SOPs, retrained annually.
- Pest control + sanitation — daily sanitation logs, pest-free facility verifiable on inspection.
Why it matters for your brand
Three reasons cGMP at the fulfillment level matters even if you don't manufacture:
- FDA inspections cascade. If the FDA inspects your manufacturer or your brand, they can extend the inspection to your 3PL. A non-cGMP 3PL can taint an otherwise-clean compliance posture.
- Recalls hit fulfillment first. When a lot needs to be recalled, your 3PL is the operational unit pulling product. cGMP-compliant 3PLs can do this in hours; non-compliant ones may take days.
- Buyer due diligence. Retailers, marketplaces, and acquirers ask for fulfillment cGMP attestations during sourcing. Non-compliant fulfillment is a deal-breaker for some retail relationships.
cGMP and MoCRA (cosmetics)
For cosmetic brands, MoCRA (effective 2026) builds on cGMP-style requirements with additional adverse-event reporting and lot-tracking obligations specific to cosmetics. A 3PL that's already operating cGMP for supplements typically has the infrastructure to handle MoCRA without rework.
How Launch operates to cGMP
Our supplement and beauty operations run cGMP-aligned across receiving, storage, pick-pack, and recall procedures. Supplement clients use our compliance documentation directly in FDA filings; beauty clients are MoCRA-ready ahead of the 2026 effective date. Request a compliance walkthrough if you're vetting a new fulfillment partner.