MOSCOW, June 21 (RIA Novosti) - Customs regulation in Europe is the weak link in the struggle against fake medicines, a Council of Europe (CE) consultant on the problem said today.
Dr. Jonathan Harper told an international conference in Moscow, "The World Business Community against Faked Products and Piracy," that the Balkan region (the countries of former Yugoslavia) was one of areas worst affected by the spread of fake medicine.
Harper said the system of monitoring the spread of medicinal and narcotic substances in the region was weak. He added that the fake products passed through a great number of European countries in transit.
However, Harper said that the Council of Europe had all the mechanisms necessary to fight fake medicines. He said it had developed clear definitions of what fake products were and added that they would be introduced into the legislation of each CE member state.
Harper was behind an initiative to prepare a CE report on the faked medicine market in CE countries. The report will be published in January 2006.
