“While the problems that the Medicrime Convention was intended to combat are still greater today than 10 years ago, the treaty’s ability to tackle these crimes is stronger than ever”, said the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of this text, which has been ratified by 18 countries, including four non-member States of the Council of Europe: Belarus, Benin, Burkina Faso and Guinea. Eighteen other countries have signed it and two have been invited to sign up: Congo and Tunisia.
“With every additional country that signs up to the Convention, a fresh blow is struck against crime, including organised crime”, continues Marija Pejčinović Burić, calling, like the Committee of Ministers, for an expansion of signatures and ratifications.
Focusing on the fight against “counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes involving threats to public health”, this Convention is based on cross-border cooperation between the competent health, police and customs authorities at both national and international level, on work with the private sector to define and adopt anti-crime measures, and on the prosecution of offenders and the protection of victims and witnesses.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Medicrime Committee issued an Opinion in 2020 warning of the increased risks associated with the sale of falsified products. In April 2021, it defined measures to combat counterfeit vaccines.
The tenth anniversary of Medicrime will be marked by a web conference on 2 December, from 3 to 4 pm. It will review the history, added value, successes and challenges of this Convention.
Link to the Medicrime Convention: https://bit.ly/3G5gvDu (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)