Internet pharmacies increase challenges faced by customs authorities

The growing and increasingly dangerous phenomenon of fake medicines now affecting Europe is a global problem requiring collective actions, according to Dr Thomas Zimmer, chair of EFPIA's anticounterfeiting working group.

Responding to the European Commission's statement that more than 500,000 counterfeit medicines were seized at the external borders of the EU in 2005, he said that 'the scourge of counterfeit medicines reinforces the need to tightly secure the entire pharmaceutical supply chain in Europe as international traders take advantage of more open borders and new technologies (Internet) to conduct their criminal business without any scruple for people's health.'

Public private partnership with all key stakeholders at local, national ad international level is essential to effective collaboration, he stressed, adding that patients must be encouraged to purchase prescription medicines through authorised distribution channels only. The report by the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union pointed out that the increasing use of internet to sell fakes (mainly medicines) increases the challenge customs face.

'A secret wave of dangerous fakes is threatening the people in Europe,' warned EU Taxation and Customs Commissioner Laszlo Kovacs. 'The key is to be faster than the counterfeiters. We must quickly identify, and act to deal with, new routes of fraud and constantly changing counterfeit patterns to protect our health, safety and the economy.'

Whereas the primary responsibility for the prevention and control of counterfeiting lies with national authorities and international organisations, the pharmaceutical industry is actively committed to combating counterfeit medicines with the primary objective of protecting patient health, Zimmer responded. Against this background, EFPIA broadly supports the new commitment taken by the international community to step up the fight against counterfeit medicines.

In the case of pharmaceuticals, however, the industry believes that it would be preferable, in disclosing custom seizures, to mention the products seized by therapeutic category. But EFPIA believes that adding a company name or a specific product name is not needed as it could create undue scare with the general public about the healthcare system.