The licence holder must ensure that any blood or blood component imported into the United Kingdom and used by the manufacturer’s licence holder as a starting material or raw material in the manufacture of an exempt advanced therapy medicinal product meets equivalent standards of quality and safety to those laid down in Commission Directive 2004/33/EC of 22 March 2004 implementing Directive 2002/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards certain technical requirements for blood and blood components108.