Commission offers anticounterfeiting help to China and Russia

The European Commission has identified China and Russia as priority sources of counterfeit medicines and they will be the focus of special diplomatic efforts to pressure their governments to deal with the problem.

The Chinese and Russian governments will receive encouragement, funding and advice from Brussels on fighting counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals and other goods. This would include helping to create local private-public networks of groups interested in stifling counterfeit medicine production. If that fails, Brussels said it would use World Trade Organisation (WTO) disputes proceedings alleging breaches of its Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS) to secure authorised retaliatory trade sanctions forcing government action.

China is a new member of the organisation and Russia's accession is currently under negotiation. A Brussels report said 15-20% of all brand products sold in China are fakes, with pharmaceuticals a particular problem. Of Russia it said: 'There is a significant level of counterfeiting of pharmaceuticals, accounting for around 12% of the Russian pharmaceutical market.'