Taking advantage of liberal regulations under the current world trade regime that permit the separation of manufacturing from marketing, many pharmaceutical companies (like other companies) outsource the actual manufacture of their products. However, because the quality of medicines is crucial to public health, the pharmaceutical industry is perhaps the most regulated of all industries. In most countries medicines are controlled prior to their marketing, and their manufacture is carried out under strict supervision. Necessarily, numerous international initiatives have led to elaboration of standards relating to the manufacture and marketing of medicines.