Brussels, 20/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Paris on Thursday 19 June 2008 for their AGM, leaders of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EPFIA) sounded the alarm over the problem of counterfeit medicines and called for zero tolerance for those guilty of such practices. This is a crime close to terrorism, said Jean-Francois Dehecq, the CEO of Sanofi-Aventis and EPFIA vice-president. According to the World Health Organisation, some 10% of the medicines circulating in the world are counterfeit, representing a market of €45 billion.
Some 4.81 million boxes of counterfeit medicines were seized at EU borders in 2007, up 51% on 2006. This is a real problem that everyone wanted to hide, explained Dehecq. He said it was now time to stop hiding one's head in the sand and ignoring the problem. The EPFIA vice-president announced the launch of a new 2D bar code technology called Datamatrix to give every box of medicine its own unique code. The device is expected to be up and running in Europe from 2011 onwards. Experiments will be run with in Germany next year. Obviously a centralised data system will have to be set up but this is technically feasible and the EPFIA has been working a lot on the issue, explained Dehecq. He urged the EU to take measures to combat the counterfeiting of medicines, recommending that international police investigations be made more effective; heavier penalties for medicine counterfeiting than for the counterfeiting of other products; and the introduction of strict controls on the distribution of medicines.
Dehecq said he expected the EU to issue tough penalties against counterfeiting, adding that the European Parliament was prepared to do so but the situation had had to cause great anxiety, as at present, for the EU to act. He said he could not understand how a market subject to free circulation, like in the EU, could have rules set by national authorities, as is the case for the sale of medicines.
In October 2007, the European Parliament is expected to vote in plenary on a draft directive banning the repackaging of medicines, which should make counterfeiting more difficult. In September 2007, the EP adopted a resolution on the counterfeiting of medicines, calling for a strengthening of both national and multinational cooperation among the various authorities involved in tackling such counterfeiting. (L.B.S.)