Countries sign Medicrime Convention to combat counterfeit drugs

Paves way to criminalise manufacture, supply and trafficking of fake drugs

Twelve countries, including Russia, France and Germany and several mostly European countries, have paved the way for the implementation of the Council of Europe’s new Medicrime Convention that aims to boost the global fight against counterfeit medicines and other forms of pharmaceutical crime.

The Medicrime Convention, signed in Moscow, is the first international treaty that obliges signatory states to criminalise the counterfeiting of medical products and similar crimes in order to protect public health.

The Council of Europe called on other European and non-European states to join Austria, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland and Ukraine and make the manufacture, supply and trafficking of counterfeit medical products criminal offences.

The Convention also hopes to boost international co-operation between the relevant health and law enforcement authorities. Governments, international organisations, associations of patients, healthcare professionals and the medical products’ manufacturing and distribution chain have pledged to work together by:

• launching public awareness-raising campaigns on the dangers of counterfeit medical products;
• setting international training programmes for officials and health professionals;
• developing tools for the identification and follow-up of health damages, and providing services for the traceability of medicinal products.

The Medicrime Convention will come into force when ratified by five countries, including three Council of Europe members.