It is an annually published collection of quality standards for medicinal substances in the UK, which is used by individuals and organisations involved in pharmaceutical research, development, manufacture and testing.

Pharmacopoeial standards are compliance requirements; that is, they provide the means for an independent judgement as to the overall quality of an article, and apply throughout the shelf-life of a product.

The regulation of medicinal products by officials in the United Kingdom dates back to the reign of King Henry VIII (1491–1547).

In 1844, concern about the dangers of unregulated manufacture and use led William Flockhart – who had provided chloroform to Doctor (later Sir) James Young Simpson for his experiment on anaesthesia – to recommend the creation of a 'Universal Phamacopoeia for Great Britain' in his inaugural speech as president of the Northern British branch of the Pharmaceutical Society.

[3] The current edition of the British Pharmacopoeia comprises six volumes, which contain nearly 3,000 monographs for drug substances, excipients, and formulated preparation, together with supporting general notices, appendices (test methods, reagents etc.

The development of pharmacopoeial standards receives input from relevant industries, hospitals, academia, professional bodies and governmental sources, both within and outside the UK.

Detailed information and guidance on various aspects of current pharmacopoeial policy and practice is provided in supplementary chapters of the British Pharmacopoeia.

British Approved Names (BANs) are devised or selected by the British Pharmacopoeia Commission (BPC), and published by the Health Ministers, on the recommendation of the Commission on Human Medicines, to provide a list of names of substances or articles referred to in Section 100 of the Medicines Act 1968.