07/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - The fourth edition of the European Pharmacopoeia (September 2001) becomes compulsory in the European Union and 13 other European countries from 1 January 2002, with 268 new or revised texts. It now includes 1606 monographs, 282 general methods and 2000 reagents. First updating of this new Edition (October 2001) completed it with 30 new monographs and 48 revised or corrected texts but it will not be applicable until 1 April 2002.