EU urged to adopt anti-counterfeiting scheme

By Martin Banks - 3rd November 2009

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The EU has been urged to adopt an innovative scheme designed to combat the growing threat of fake drugs.

The scheme, currently being piloted in Sweden, would "drastically" reduce the volume of counterfeit medicines on the European market, say its backers.

Details were given at a healthcare conference in parliament on Tuesday, organised by the Parliament magazine.

Under the project, all pharmaceutical products sold in pharmacies throughout Europe would be security sealed, contain a unique "data matrix" - the new generation of bar codes - and a serial number.

This information would be scanned by the pharmacist to check that the product has not been recalled, is not counterfeit or has not passed its sell-by date.

Anthony Barron, of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, said the scheme "will go a long way" to tackling the "ever-rising" problem of fake drugs.

"The technology is currently being tested in Sweden but we firmly believe it could be a very successful deterrent," he said.

Parliament is currently discussing how best to address the issue as part of its deliberations on the so-called "falsified medicines directive."

"The beauty of this scheme is that it allows the pharmacist to check immediately if a product is counterfeit. If it is, then, of course,it would not be sold."

However, he cautioned that for the scheme to be effective it would have to adopted on a pan-European basis.

"There has to be full coverage, otherwise it is, clearly, not as effective," he said.

The trade in fake medicines has become big business for counterfeiters with the US department of state saying the counterfeit pharmaceutical market totals some $32bn.

Unlike drug trafficking,the penalties for counterfeit medicine remain weak.

The conference in parliament, called "Towards a healthier Europe," brought together representatives from industry and EU policymakers.