Brussels, 19/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - The Council of Europe, which groups 47 European states, is currently developing a new international convention on the counterfeiting of medicinal products aimed at protecting public health. This will make it illegal to market counterfeit medical products on the internet. The convention should be opened for signature during the first half of 2010.
The supply and marketing of pharmaceutical products online and the possible legal responses to combat counterfeit and illegal medicines, such as the draft Council of Europe convention, were examined on 16 November during the seminar entitled “Medicine on the net - risks and advantages” organised by the Council of Europe at the forum on internet governance held in Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt). Hugo K. Bonar, who is responsible for combating counterfeiting at the Irish Medicines Board, and expert with the Council of Europe, summarised the seminar's conclusions by saying that consumers should be given exact, good quality information that may be valid in different legal frameworks. Medical products differ from other goods proposed online because, without the right prescription or if they are of bad quality, they might kill you, he said. He also said it was necessary for medicines sold by prescription to be sold and sent with prescription after direct contact with the prescriber and that any rules concerning this point should be international because products could be proposed by a website, bought, sent or announced in different countries.
The draft agreement requires the participating countries to introduce the following as criminal offences: manufacturing counterfeit medicines; supplying, offering to supply or selling counterfeit medicines; falsifying documents; and similar malpractice that threatens public health. It also includes a framework for international cooperation, measures for coordination at national level, preventive measures and the protection of witnesses and victims. As in various Council of Europe conventions, and in line with the global nature of pharmaceutical crime, non member states may be able to join the agreement and it might thereby eventually become universal. The non-EU countries likely to join include Israel, Canada, Mexico and Japan. The United States has been closely monitoring progress and has also expressed interest in the agreement. (O.J./transl.fl)