In response to attempts to defraud the Covid-19 vaccine, the Member States are looking for solutions to counter this new criminal trend, according to a document from the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council dated 29 April, a copy of which was made available to EUROPE.
Europol and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) have been sounding the alarm on this subject. At the end of February, OLAF launched an investigation into the illegal trade of Covid-19 vaccines (see EUROPE 12658/15).
The Portuguese Presidency therefore had brought the issue “for further consideration”, in March and April in different EU Council working groups.
During these discussions, Member States confirmed that they had observed attempted scams involving false offers of vaccines made to several governments.
Only a limited number of cases of the sale of fake vaccines, often via the dark web, or diversion of vaccines from the EU distribution chain have been reported.
Another important challenge, identified by the European Commission and EU Customs, is the potential attempts to export vaccines illegally, without licensing, by declaring them as other immunological products or by misdeclaring the final destination.
“This undermines the EU’s vaccines strategy to ensure affordable and timely access to Covid-19 vaccines for all Member States and their population”, writes the Portuguese Presidency.
To respond to these new phenomena, “a strong multi-disciplinary and multi-agency approach was highlighted as the key pre-requisite”, the document stresses.
Member States are thus required to ensure an effective exchange of information between law enforcement authorities (police, customs and border guards) and other relevant public authorities, as well as with EU institutions and agencies. The information received should be systematically cross-checked and analysed at both national and EU level and analytical products should be developed, if necessary, the text says.
Furthermore, Member States are invited to actively participate in operational actions at EU level, such as the forthcoming operation ‘SHIELD II’ organised by Europol and OLAF, and at international level. They are also recommended to carry out joint customs and police checks at the EU’s external borders.
The response also includes raising awareness among law enforcement and other relevant public authorities as well as the general public and involving vaccine manufacturers, the text says.
The paper also points out that vaccine fraud is just one of the new criminal trends linked to the health crisis. Counterfeiting of medical and personal protective equipment and counterfeiting of PCR negative test certificates are other, more frequent, forms of crime encountered in their territories.
See the document: https://bit.ly/3uHuMkn (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)